Star Wars: Calling of the Force
by vrockpokey
Summary: For years, the Planet of Eco was safe under the protection of Jak, Daxter, Keira, and their friends. Then everything changed when The Galactic Empire ransacked and conquered the planet. Now looking to avenge themselves after they abandoned their people when they needed them most, Jak and Keira must use their eco powers with the ways of the Force to become Jedi and save the galaxy.
1. Chapter 1: Birth of a new Jedi Order

Star Wars: Calling of the Force

(A Jak and Daxter/Star Wars crossover, as well as several cameos from Ratchet and Clank, and Halo)

Prologue/Opening Summary:

Three Years after the events that followed from _The Last Frontier,_ Now 23-year-old Jak Mikwa became engaged to his one true love Keira Hagai, and inherited his father's lost throne as king of Haven City. During those three years, he and his sidekick best friend, Daxter, embarked on many adventures to protect their planet of Eco from outside threats. Jak and his group of friends became very successful in protecting the planet, as he was revered as, "Eco's greatest hero."

However, little did they know that their planet was part of a galactic system that was recently consumed by an evil empire that was planning to ravage through the far reaches of the galaxy, destroying any source of good that each planet had, and conquering every last living system in the galaxy, annexing them to fall under complete control of the Empire. Led by the evil emperor, Darth Sidious, he sends his newly-acquired apprentice, Darth Vader, and an army of Imperial troops to destroy any remaining Jedi Knights across the galaxy that survived the Great Jedi Purge (Order 66), and to attain any resources that would be beneficial to the construction of the infamous Death Star.

The Emperor selects the planet of Eco as the first location that Vader will attack, due to the planet's strong connection with the Force, especially through Jak and Keira. Luckily, Samos Hagai retained this piece of information and taught the ways of the force to Jak and Keira as quickly as he could. (as he was a Jedi Knight once before too.) The revered hero and his group of closest friends would eventually have no choice but to evacuate their homeworld, and work together to protect the galaxy as a whole from the clutches of evil.

Now, Jak comes to his most daunting challenge yet, as he tries to save the galaxy by using his eco powers to embrace the ways of the force quicker than the average Jedi Knight. To save his friends, the love of his life, and the entire universe, he will have no choice but to use his new powers, altering his life forever…

Chapter 1: Birth of a new Jedi Order

Within the main ballroom of the newly-renovated Palace of Haven City, Jak Mikwa and Keira Hagai completed their wedding ceremony. It was a glorious ceremony, as citizens from not only Haven City, but from Spargus and even Kraas City as well came together to witness the union of the new King and Queen. Daxter served as the best man, and Tess was the maid of honor. The reception was nothing short of pure joy, as Daxter, Sig, Torn, Jinx, Ratchet, and Clank drunkenly swapped embarrassing moments of the newlyweds, while Ashelin, Tess, and even Rayn gossiped about how the bride was so lucky to have Jak as the groom, praising the hero with every word uttered. Ultimately, the reception hit a powerful climax as Samos Hagai, the elder Green Eco Sage and the father of the bride, shared a ten-minute speech regarding the new husband and wife. He told the audience that unlike most dads, he knew that Jak was the perfect man for his daughter, and that he would protect her at all costs just like he protects Eco. He sensed that defiance within him ever since the two met, and he openly expressed how he always happily welcomed him in the family upon the very moment the boy and the girl laid eyes on each other. He saw this as a new stage of hope for him, and the rest of the planet. He was overjoyed that his daughter would share an everlasting bond with his new son-in-law, and he concluded his speech with wise advice he gave to the new couple:

"Love is not easy. Love is not necessarily about sharing kind words and doing good deeds for one another every day, but it is more about facing the most difficult problems as a team, and searching for the best solution for them. It's about sacrificing individual luxuries and desires for the good of one another. That is what love is all about."

With the standing ovation that followed, the reception ended. As soon as all the guests departed, the new King of Haven City carried his new bride upstairs into the master bedroom chamber. The room contained many pictures of the couple's finest moments, and Jak recently added the photo of the wedding kiss to his dresser. As he tossed his bride onto the soft mattress, he climbed on top of her. They giggled, and then Jak sat up, with a serious look on his face.

"What's wrong, my love?" Keira inquired.

"There's something I need to get off my chest." Jak answered.

"Go on..." she replied with a stern look on her face.

Jak responded, "Your dad was right, this isn't going to be easy for either of us. We're both saviors of the world. We risk our lives every day to protect not only the ones we love, but people we've never even met before. It's a huge responsibility we deal with every day. Adding marriage into this, it makes our lives even more challenging. Yeah, I'll probably yell at you a lot, call you things that you and I both know are not true, I'll forget to do chores around here, and I might even forget your birthday. However, through all the problems that we face for the rest of our lives, just know that I'm eternally devoted to you. If I'm willing to spend the rest of my life with anyone in the world, I couldn't be happier that I decided to pick you."

Overjoyed that her husband said these words to her, she screamed with tears of joy. She quickly grabbed her husband, and wrestled him onto the bed. They kissed repeatedly for minutes on end, until they shared a moment when they looked deeply into each other.

"I'm so lucky to have fallen in love with you, Jak," she spoke softly.

"I'm even luckier that I've fallen in love with _you_, Keira," He responded.

She said playfully, "Now, now, are we going to make this a contest as to who's the luckier one?"

"Don't start with me little lady," He purred.

They giggled, they kissed, the curtains fell, the lights dimmed, and the door shut.

Early the next morning, Samos rushed from his hut in the slums all the way up to the top chamber of the palace where Jak and Keira stayed. He barged into the master chamber, swinging the door wide open.

He yelled frantically, "JAK! KEIRA! WAKE UP! I HAVE URGENT NEWS! I CALLED EVERYONE OVER HERE! HURRY UP AND MEET US IN THE WAR ROOM! IMMEDIATELY!" He shook the two over and over again trying to stir them from their sleep, and as they awoke, the two were very agitated with his intrusion.

"C'mon Samos!" Jak Complained, "It's our first full day together as a married couple. Can we at least get one day of peace and relaxation?"

"There's no time for that!" Samos retorted, "This is serious!"

"How could it be serious daddy?" Keira replied. She continued in a sarcastic tone, "Surely there can't be THAT much evil going around today. What is it? A bunch of dark makers trying to raid the planet again?"

To this inquiry, Samos replied in a softer, yet more grave and saddened tone, "Worse, I'm afraid that we might not be able to save ourselves from this one." Jak and Keira soon got the memo, and hurried up to get dressed and head downstairs. The two ottsels met up with them, as Tess hopped on Keira's shoulder, while Daxter took his usual spot on Jak's shoulder.

"Hey buddy," Daxter started as they walked downstairs, "what ridiculous mission does that crazy old man want us to do this time?"

"I'm not sure yet, but according to him this mission may be more grave than it sounds," Jak replied.

"Ya gotta be kiddin' me!?" Daxter retorted with disbelief, "The crazy old coot overreacts to everything! The last time he flipped out over a mission like this, it ended up being an angry midget with an army of crappy droids! SHEESH! I wonder what this fiasco could be!"

"Well Dax," Jak continued, "based on the way Samos reported it to me, I have a feeling he's not overreacting on this one. I think he's serious."

"You can't possibly buy into this crap!" Daxter yelled.

"What other choice do we have?" Jak finished as he walked into the war room with Keira and Tess. He saw all of his friends surrounding the round table, with worried and anxious looks on their faces staring at them.

"All right old man, what did you bring us here for?" Ashelin asked.

"This mission better be good," Torn continued, "We all know how you dramatize EVERYTHING."

"This situation requires serious action from all of you!" Samos implored, pointing his wooden staff at everyone in the room, "There is something I must show you."

With this, he levitated a small device and placed it onto the center of the table. The device displayed a giant hologram of a man, with fair skin, brownish-red hair and beard, wearing beige robes covered under a giant brown cloak. The man's bright blue eyes were staring directly at Jak and Keira.

The man spoke, "This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both the Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi: Trust in The Force. Do not return to the temple, that time has passed, and our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged. Our trust, our faith, our friendships. But we must persevere, and in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you, always."

As the hologram of Obi-Wan vanished, and Samos looked at Jak, he stood there, confused on the information that he had just received.

"The Force?" Jak asked his father-in-law, perplexed.

"Okay..." Keira continued, "but what does this have to do with us?"

"You two may not have realized this," Samos continued, "but through your abilities of channeling eco, the Force has been with you all along. In fact, eco on this planet, and the force everywhere else, are one in the same. Even more interesting, it was the Force that bought you two together."

"I don't understand," Jak spoke, "does that mean that Keira and I are...Jedi?"

"Not exactly, because you two haven't discovered the ways of a Jedi, until now. But I knew that you two are strong with the Force as I once was."

"Well what are the Jedi?" Ratchet chimed in, "Are they wizards, warriors, monsters?"

"Yeah, get to the point green guy!" Sig chimed in, "We didn't come all this way to listen to whacked-out wizard shit!"

Samos continued, "The Jedi Knights were the most powerful beings in the galaxy. They were comprised of all races in all different types of species all across the galaxy. There were very few that possessed the abilities that they were born with. These men and women were special in strength. They didn't need blasters or gunstaffs to defeat their enemies. They relied only on the Force and the swords they wielded. I was once a Jedi Knight before I relocated here and became a green-eco sage. I was best friends with the current Jedi Grand Master, Yoda. Him and I were the most powerful and wisest Jedi Masters in the order, until a snotty senator named Palpatine bullied me out of there. I don't want to get too into it too much-"

"So get to the point!" Torn Interjected.

"He's stalling," Daxter whispered to Jak. "I hate it when he stalls."

"SILENCE WEASEL!" The sage bellowed as he put out his hand and shoved the ottsel off of Jak's shoulder with force energy. Daxter stood up, distraught and angered, as he was about to unleash his dark side against the sage. Luckily, Jak was able to restrain him before he fully turned into his dark form. "As I was saying," he continued, "Little do all of you know, our planet is part of the same galactic system that was a part of the Jedi Order and the Republic, until the Empire came in and wiped them all out. This planet is located in one of the unknown regions in the Outer Rim, and the Empire is on their way here, TO ATTACK US!"

"But...why?" Keira asked him softly. She too was perplexed on the whole situation unfolding.

"BECAUSE!" Samos continued, "They sense the Force HERE! THROUGH YOU TWO! They're out to destroy not only you two, but this planet as a whole! Because there is Eco here, and that you two are the only two beings that can truly channel it, then they're after YOU!"

"How do you even know that they're coming here first?" Jak asked, "How do you know that the Empire is not heading to some other planet in the galaxy?"

"Because I have forseen it in a vision I had last night." Samos responded. "In my vision, all I saw was a black figure with an angry young man underneath. That man's name is Darth Vader. I saw him lead a legion of troopers into Haven City and destroy this planet from the inside out, consuming all of the dark eco here, and transporting it to a massive space station. That's all I saw."

"So really, our biggest problem is an army?" Jinx interjected. "Big deal! I got the explosives to blow em' right outta' the wata! You ain't gott a worry about a thing Jakkie Boy!"

"I have military resources as well." Ratchet added, "I know of an army also hidden in the Outer Rim territories. If we can get the right firepower and the right soldiers for our support, we'll be able to destroy these Imperial blockheads too quickly. This planet will be fine!"

"I'm afraid those resources will not be sufficient enough to destroy the Empire," Samos informed them, "as they too are strong with the Force as well. The Dark Side."

"Dark?" Jak called out in fear. He didn't like the sound of that, as his dark senses tingled while Samos spoke these very words. Jak hated to admit it, but the eco within him, both light and dark, was beginning to consume him to the point where he is almost losing control of it. He's afraid that once he loses control of his eco powers, he would not only destroy himself, or Keira, or Daxter, but rather the entire planet that he lived on. He needed a remedy to control his tendencies so that he can control his eco powers for good. According to what Samos the Sage was telling him, he knew that trusting in the Force was the only remedy to his affliction.

Samos turned to Jak and spoke to him softly, "Jak, I know that the gunstaff your father gave you is important to you, and you should keep it. But if you rely on that weapon too much, you won't be able to overcome Darth Vader and the Empire. That's why I constructed you and Keira these." With that he presented to him a box that contained two short sticks made up of Precursor material. Jak picked his up and looked at it funny.

"What the hell are these?" He asked.

Samos told him, "These are called, lightsabers. These are the true weapons of the Jedi." He grabbed his new weapon and ignited it. All that came out was a blue steak of light. He waved it around a few times, perplexed, yet fond of what he just received. Despite not appearing as lethal as the blasters he once had, Jak liked this weapon a lot. Keira would soon ignite hers, and out came a purple light streak. The two were in deep thought for a few moments.

"Don't you see?" Samos pleaded to both Jak and Keira, "YOU are the new hope that will emerge! I know it! Let me train you both. You both can channel eco. That's half the battle. Most Jedi spent years and years training in the ways of the Force. Since you two know all about it, your training won't even take nearly half as long, almost a thousand times quicker than the average Jedi. Which is perfect, because the galaxy needs you now more than ever."

Jak and Keira pondered, and thought of the future in general as Samos offered them to teach them the ways of the Force under his wing. He then pleaded to the newlywed couple, "Will you save the galaxy?"

Keira was hesitant in this new endeavor, she stammered "Um...daddy, I don't know if I can-"

"We'll do it!" Jak interjected. Samos was relieved that Jak has accepted the challenge.

"Are you crazy!?" Keira retorted, "This is a dangerous mission with entirely new teachings! We may not even come out of this alive like we have in the past! Don't you want a family with me?"

"Yes Keira, I do," Jak answered calmly, "but wouldn't you want to guarantee your family safety from this evil empire uprising? Or even millions of families? Don't you want to be that person that takes that shot in doing good for something that's bigger than all of us in this room? We talked about this last night. We knew our marriage wasn't going to be easy, and we knew we had to face new challenges together for the rest of our lives if we want to be together. This is the first of many challenges. So here's your chance: Will you help us save the galaxy? Will you do it with me by your side? I've made my choice, but it's all up to you."

Keira thought about what her husband said and pondered the pros and cons of the situation her father presented to her. She was in deep thought for many moments, until she finally came to the conclusion, "I'm in!"

"It is settled then," the Sage proclaimed, "We start training immediately. We can't train here. It's too crowded. We'll need a more remote area with plenty of obstacles for you two to be accustomed to."

"Spargus is the perfect training ground for them!" Sig suggested. "Plenty of metal heads and brute outside warriors for them to swing their swords around in a brute desert. Perfect space for concentration and meditation!"

"Excellent, Spargus it is!" Samos declared.

"Ratchet, Clank" Jak turned to his two good friends, "Will you two stay and take over the throne of Haven City while I'm gone? You might as well assemble the army here. It can't hurt. And Clank, I'm sure you're capable of building the infrastructure we need to defend our city walls, right?"

"You got it sir!" Clank saluted to the king. His friend followed, "We'll do our best for you, buddy."

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Keira proudly proclaimed, "Let's all start working together to kick some Imperial ass!" With this the group cheered, and departed from the walls of Haven City, into the barren wasteland of Spargus, where the Jedi Training of Jak and Keira commenced.


	2. Chapter 2: The Empire Arrives

Chapter 2: The Empire's Arrival

Exactly one month after Jak and Keira began their training with Samos, the Empire arrived within orbit of the planet Eco. Soon, a fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers and TIE Fighters approached the planet from deep space, with the largest of Star Destroyers arriving last on the scene. Little did everyone on Eco know that their armies alone would be of no match for the massive fleet of the Imperial Empire. Their only hope would be if Jak can save them one more time.

Inside the main Star Destroyer, through the main chamber, a door opened. Out came a robotic man adorned with a grey suit, black armor, colored buttons on his chest, and a black cape surrounding it all. His face was hidden by a black, two-piece mask that produced a sinister mechanical breathing. This was the man that Samos spoke of. This was the notorious Sith Lord that came into power. This was the infamous Jedi-killer that swept all across the galaxy. This man, was Darth Vader.

As Lord Vader walked through the hallways into the main command center, an array of Imperial Storm Troopers, admirals, generals, and commanders alike, stopped dead in their tracks and saluted the dark lord, with fear in their eyes. He approached a shrivlled old man, covered in black robes, and stood beside him. The two looked out of the window of their Star Destroyer, looking directly at the planet Eco.

What Samos did not realize is, the Empire was actually ruled by the shriveled old man covered in black robes. The Emperor's title was Darth Sidious. It was clear that he was the master, and Vader was his new apprenctice.

"What is thy bidding, my master?" Lord Vader asked in his deep, sinister, mechanical voice.

"Lord Vader," the Emperor's shrill, dark voice started as he looked to his apprentice with a wrinkled face with red and yellow eyes, "see the planet that we are approaching upon? I sense a great disturbance of the Force coming from here."

"I can feel it as well," Vader replied.

Sidious continued, "Yes, this planet is strong with the Force, through two beings, I sense. A boy, and a girl. These two are the only two beings that are strong with it, yet they just begun studying the Jedi Arts, and they improve rapidly…"

"The children of the Force," Vader realized.

"Prescisely, my apprentice," The Emperor replied, "which is why we are out here in the unknown Outer-Rim terretories to seek them out. They must NOT become Jedi. This will be the first of many systems that will fall under complete control of our new Empire. This one will be swift and effortless to conquer. Their defense mechanisms will be inferior to us!"

The apprentice affirmed, "Yes, my master."

The master continued, "Hunt down the Force-sensitive boy and girl. I sense that they are in the same place. Destroy their master, and their allies, and order them to serve under our control. If they refuse, execute them. When you have done that, search for any resources that would be beneficial to our project."

Vader asked, "How will I know who they are? Their Names? What they look like?"

"Search you feelings, Lord Vader," Sidious calmly replied, "You will find the answers to all of your questions once you see them. You will find a way to destroy them."

"Yes, My master," Vader bowed.

"You have been well-trained for this moment, my young apprenctice," the Emperor encouraged, "This is your first true test as an official Sith Lord. They will be of no match for you. Now, go forth and do what must be done. Find the children, destroy their allies, and rob their resources. Do not hesitate, show no mercy. Unleash all of your strength, your anger, your hatred, and you will become more powerful that what you are now. This will bring us one step closer to complete dominance of the galaxy, like you have always dreamed of."

"And so it shall be done, my master." Vader rose, looked at his master for the last time, and left the command center. He departed from his Star Destroyer onto an Imperial shuttle that flew deep into the planet's atmosphere in the deep of the night. For hours, Vader searched this planet near and far in search of Jak and Keira.

Meanwhile, back at Spargus, Jak and Keira were headed back to Sig's palace to face their final test. The two have done so well in their accelerated training, already mastering the ways of the force through meditation, lightsaber combat, and mind techniques that allowed them to control and move objects and people. Within lest than a month the two heroes have all but mastered every single aspect of becoming a Jedi. However, one final test from Samos awaited them…

"I've gotta say, we've done pretty good so far," Jak started, "none of this is half-bad!"

"I know," Keira continued, "I actually have a really positive attitude about this!"

"This mission is gonna be cake," Jak replied. "I can feel it!"

"No doubt!" Keira confirmed.

The two new Jedi walked into the throne room inside the palace, only to see their Ottsel companions tied up and hanging above the ceiling. Despite their mouths being taped shut they cried for help relentlessly.

"DAX!" Jak yelled upward.

"TESS!" Keira followed.

"Don't worry! We'll get you both down-" as soon as Jak said this, an army of black-cloaked men bursted through the windows. They turn around and they see more of them burst through the double-doors. They all looked the same, each with grey armor and a white mask with red stripes, with small rectangular slits for their eyes. They surrounded Jak and Keira, lightsabers drawn. They were all red. Jak went on to finish,"-As soon as we deal with these guys!"

"They're here." Keira trembled with fear. She believed that this was the Empire that they have been waiting for.

"Relax honey," Jak said to her, calming her nerves, "we'll take 'em all together."

With this, they both crouched and spread their hands wide open, unleashing a massive wave of force energy that flew all of the Sith Acolytes backward. Then Jak and Keira drew their lightsabers and immediately went to work. They used all of their knowledge and they put it to the test. They sliced and diced each warrior, severing heads, limbs, and even gutting them. They even used the force to push, pull, and knock out their opponents. It wasn't until halfway through the ambush that they realized that these warriors were only prototype robots constructed for their final test. They made short work of these drones, and noticed that Daxter and Tess were still tied together.

One of the Sith robots struggled to get up, and then leaped into the air with its lightsaber drawn, its tip aiming at the two Ottsels.

"Uhh…Jak?" Daxter gulped in fear. In response, Jak threw his lightsaber like a boomerang towards the rope, and severd it along with the Sith robot's head, just before it struck Daxter and Tess. The two Ottsels fell, screaming as gravity dragged them down. Then, Keira held out her left hand, and used the force grip to stop gravity before they hit the ground. They levitated, and stared at Keira, amazed that she could use the force to save them. Then she gently set them down, and removed the tape covering their mouths.

"You all right?" Daxter turned to Tess, noticing that she was traumatized by the events that had just occurred.

"Yes!" Tess exclaimed, relieved. "Oh, thank heavens for you two! I thought we were gonna die!"

"Yes, good show you two!" Samos barged in with bravado and praise. "That was most impressive."

"Say, what gives, grandpa!?" Daxter intruded, "You nearly had all four of us killed!"

"I was about to say," Jak added, "If that was the Empire, it looked like a pretty lame one if you ask me."

"No it wasn't, my boy," Samos replied, "that was a lesson for you two: To never become complacent with your powers. The moment you think you are invincible is the very same moment when you are the most fragile. It's a habit that often leads to the Dark Side. Be mindful of that."

"How did you know we were being complacent?" Jak asked.

"I heard you two talking about how easy training for a Jedi was when you walked in," Samos answered. He then continued the conversation to both him and Keira, "You forget, it takes even some of the greatest Jedi Knights many years to master the ways of the Force. With the aid of eco, it took you both nearly a month, and I knew that it was quite possible for you two to become two of the most powerful Jedi in history. That's why it was the perfect time to unleash the mock-warriors that Torn and Ashelin built."

"That tattoo-faced mother-" Daxter was about to curse out Torn until Jak covered his mouth before it got out of hand. Jak calmed down his Ottsel sidekick, and Samos continued:

"I had to surprise you for your final test, to see if you can use all the techniques that I have taught you to good use, without my aid. You two have proved that, and it also proves that the bond that you've tied for your marriage, gets stronger and stronger as the days go on, and I'm proud of that. You are now ready to face your biggest challenge yet. You both are now ready to face the Empire!"

"Thank you for everything, daddy!" Keira exclaimed, running up to her father and embracing him. This was perfect timing, as Sig, Torn, Ashelin, and Jinx all rushed into the throne room. They all had looks of panic written on each of their faces, and just when they were about to utter words, Jak raised his right hand towards them, and forced them not to speak. He knew that the Empire in its realist form arrived on Eco, even before he heard the TIE fighters blasting towards the ground and also before he heard the citizens screeching for help as the Storm Troopers pulled them out of their cottages.

"NOW, they're here." Jak spoke, coldly.


	3. Chapter 3: Battle for Eco

Chapter 3: Battle for Eco

After Jak said this, he and the rest of the gang rushed out of the palace and towards the underground garage.

"My wastelanders tried all they could, Cherry," Sig said to Jak as they were sprinting. "They had no shot against them."

"Well, luckily we got Ratchet's army on standby in Haven," Jak assured him, "I'll contact him as soon as we get out of here."

They entered Sig's garage, with three desert-type vehicles inside, all with armed weapons on top of their rollcages. Jak, Keira, Daxter, and Tess hopped in the Sand Shark, while Torn, Ashelin, and Jinx manned the Dune Hopper. Sig and Samos piloted the most massive desert vehicle of the three, the Gila Stomper.

"Alright here's what we're gonna do," Jak told his three passengers. "Dax," as he give him his blaster, "Take this and cover our asses from behind. Keira," as he gives her his father's gunstaff, "take this and cover our sides. Tess," as he gives her the portable hologram communicator, "while you're navigating what's in front of me, dial up Ratchet and Clank so I can alert them and their army that the Empire is here. Hang on everybody. This is gonna be one helluva bumpy ride."

The three vehicles took off, and immediately they faced open fire as they escaped the Spargus city walls out into the wasteland. There, on the sandy, rocky, and treacherous desert terrain, hundreds of TIE fighters and Imperial Storm Troopers riding zoomers chased them down, blasting at the three desert vehicles. They managed well for a long time, as Jinx's explosives and Daxter's on-target shots with the Vulcan Fury hindered them. Still, there was panic within the cockpit of the Sand Shark, as Jak dialed up Ratchet, who was at Haven Palace.

"Ratchet! Can you hear me, buddy?" Jak yelled as he was blasting Imperials while Ratchet came on the hologram.

"Yeah Jak, I got you loud and clear. What's going on?" Ratchet asked.

"We got big problems man," Jak continued, "The Empire is here! And they're on their way to Haven City. If we lose our city our whole planet is lost. Man your troops around the city walls and alert the freedom league as well. I'm coming as fast as I can! Hurry up! Do it now!"

In the palace, Ratchet knew this was urgent, and he wasn't sure if his army could handle the hot pursuit of the Empire. He could tell by the sounds of the blasters and explosions back and forth, that his good friend and comrade was in trouble, and he needed immediate assistance. "I've got guys on their way to help you out now," Ratchet replied, "Hang in there, dude, help is on the way!" With this, Ratchet tuned out and looked upon his group of soldiers in the war room. They were all tall, wide, bulked up soldiers adorned with dark-green armor, and their faces were covered with helmets of the same color, with yellow visors surrounding their eyes. This coalition of soldiers was better known as the Halo Freedom Fighters, one of the most powerful armies in the galaxy, albeit their first involvement in the ongoing conflict between the Jedi and the Sith. Ratchet proved their worth to them, and was quickly elevated to Master Chief, the highest ranking in the army. He was confident that his soldiers could bring down this Empire, yet he also knew that he had never seen the Empire before, so there were some uncertainties. Nevertheless, he was determined to release his soldiers onto the battlefield, on behalf of the planet Eco, and the rest of the galaxy.

"All right, men," Ratchet turned to his soldiers, "This is the moment we've been preparing for. The Empire has arrived in full force and is heading our direction. Assist the King of Haven City and our allies as they are in grave danger in the wastelands. Man your star fighters and take down as many TIEs and other warships as you can. Do whatever you have to do to make sure that those Imperial metal heads don't get past these city walls." He concluded with gusto, "DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?"

"YES, MASTER CHIEF!" They retorted, and retreated out of the war room, into the war zone. Hundreds of thousands of Halo Soldiers manned their star ships and flew to each side of the perimeter of Haven City. Hundreds of soldiers stayed behind assisted all of the Krimzon Guards from the Freedom League that patrolled the city's grounds. Ratchet and Clank were the last ones to leave the war room, and they walked outside into the balcony of the palace. Clank transformed himself into a jet-pack, strapping himself onto Ratchet's back, and flew to the very top of the Palace, with Jak and Keira's bedroom chamber below them. He grabbed on to the top spire and looked towards the direction the others were coming in. He saw the TIE fighters and Star Destroyers already opening fire towards Haven City, and he saw his ships and star fighters fighting back.

They were fighting valiantly, but he could see that the Empire was slowly but surely advancing. He saw many of his soldiers fall to explosions and blasts inflicted by the TIE Fighters. On the same token, he saw many TIEs fall as well. Regardless, he could tell that Imperial forces easily overwhelmed the resources and firepower his Halo Army had. He became worried for his friends fighting and racing their way towards the palace as fast as they could, because the chances of them reaching there too late, quickly increased.

"I hope you know what you're doing pal," He said quietly, speaking to his struggling friend out in the wasteland. Ratchet then took his blaster and flew down towards the city grounds, and stood at the front entrance of the palace, waiting for the Empire to emerge through the walls of Haven City.

Meanwhile, out in the wasteland, the rest of the gang struggled to outrun and outlast the Imperial Army. It was quite obvious that their firepower was far too superior compared to the three desert vehicles, yet they are all still racing towards Haven City. Still, danger lurked around them.

Several Imperial Storm Troopers riding zoomers flanked on the right side of the Sand Shark, and Keira used Jak's gunstaff to fend them all off. Daxter shot down several TIE fighters with the Vulcan fury, but was running low on ammo. Luckily for everybody, they were all inching closer and closer to Haven City

"The city walls are dead ahead, Jak!" Tess yelled.

"I see 'em!" Jak replied.

"Watch out for those fighters!" Tess soon shrieked as a swarm of TIE fighters opened fire onto the three desert vehicles. Jak tried to shoot them down with the Sand Shark's machine guns, but it was obvious that one desert vehicle would soon be overwhelmed by the combined blast of a fleet of fighters. The left front tire of the car exploded from the impact of the blasters, and the car soon barrel rolled all across the dunes. Still, Jak, Keira, Daxter, and Tess jumped out of the vehicle before it started flipping over. The four fell down on to the sand facedown. They were disoriented for a short time, but were unharmed.

"Is everyone all right?" Jak asked his three companions. They all groaned, but gave him a thumbs up as they tried to get up. They all looked over and saw that the Dune Hooper and the Gila Stomper were both destroyed. Keira and Tess both immediately felt remorse for the others, as they both assumed that they were both dead. But Jak could sense that they were still alive, and were making their way towards Haven City.

"We can't waste our time worrying about the others," Jak began to assure Keira, Daxter, and Tess that they were okay. "they're tough and I'm sure they're making their way towards the palace now. That's what we have to do now. We still have time to make it to the palace before he (Vader) does. That's our job, and we have to accomplish it for our people."

Suddenly, a shadow cast upon the four of them. They looked up, and saw a giant metal leg ready to step on them. It was a leg of a tall, robotic, dog-like structure, that blasting towards the walls of Haven City.

"Look out!" Keira exclaimed, frightened at the rapid rate that the leg was coming down on them. They all rolled towards the right, dodging the impact the giant step had. As they got up from the sand, they looked at the massive footprint with the Imperial symbol planted on the sand, and looked up towards the giant robot.

They discovered that this massive structure was an Imperial Walker, and they noticed there were three of them walking towards the city walls, aiming their guns towards the palace.

"Keira," Jak spoke towards his wife, "Do you have one of those grapple guns handy?"

"You didn't even have to ask," Keira replied as she handed him a small silver pistol. He aimed it at the rear of the imperial walker, and it shot a steel cable with a large metal hook on the end, that grappled on the top of the giant robot.

"Everyone, grab on!" Jak commanded his three comrades. In quick response, the two ottsels hopped on Jak's shoulders as Keira grabbed Jak's torso tightly. As Jak released the trigger, the gun reeled them up to the top of the Imperial walker. As they stood on the walker's back, their confidence was restored. The walls were within jumping distance and one of the palace's support towers were close by.

Once the imperial walker was close enough to Haven City, as it prepared to knock down its walls, Jak drew his lightsaber, and used it to decapitate the Imperial walker, causing it to shut down and fall forward. With haste, the four of them ran and jumped from the edge of the fallen machine. They hopped over the slums, and landed onto the streets.

What can only be described from here is pure, maniacal chaos within the walls of Haven City. All they saw were buildings burned, torn down, Imperial Troopers attacking, and people screaming, terrified, and helpless against the Empire that they have never heard of or seen before. All of the citizens, men, women, and children alike screamed with horror as they were chased and shot down by storm troopers, "Where is our king!? Why isn't he here to help us!? Who will save us!? We're doomed!"

After he heard these screams, Jak immediately felt the shock of guilt, and it caused him pain inside, pain that stimulated his dark powers only slightly. He was able to control it, but he became worried of his dark power tendencies conflicting with the force.

"GET THEM!" A storm trooper suddenly yelled, and soon at least twenty of them charged towards Jak, Daxter, Keira, and Tess. Daxter then took it upon himself to spark the defensive attack, as he took Jak's scatter gun out of his holster, and immediately opened fire towards the storm troopers, knocking several of them on their backs.

Soon, the effort from Daxter would fail, as several storm troopers, would restrain him and destroy his weapon in the process. "You punks better not piss me off!" Daxter cursed at them, "You're not gonna like what happens when you all do!" Soon, he became angry, and his skin created a small purple hue. Scared on what was to happen next, Jak rushed in with his gunstaff, and used it to free Daxter, thus calming him down. Jak struck at them with it's hilt and head, then opened fire towards the ones that were far in range. That bought Keira and Tess enough time to rush towards one of the four palace support towers nearby. They ran to the elevator safely, but were waiting anxiously for the other two.

"Come on!" Keira yelled, "We don't have much time! Move it, you two!" Jak and Daxter would rush as fast as they could towards the tower, with blasters firing at them from all directions, and the door of the elevator closing fast. They both jumped into the elevator just before it closed, unharmed.

"That was close," Jak told his wife as the elevator went up, "I didn't want to leave anyone else behind-"

"Oh, and like you had the same consideration for the others that we left behind?" Keira retorted. "You nearly had all of us in here killed by those Imperial metal-heads! Are you insane!?"

"Keira, honey," Jak calmly replied. "I'm sure the others are fine. Like I told you back there (on the wasteland) that we still have a chance to save the palace. Stick to the plan, and we'll be all right. For now, we have a bridge to cross."

The door opened, and they walked towards the bridge. It was a fairly long bridge, with several obstacles such as electric rings and spiked floors constructed with it. However, the palace was in plain sight. Surrounding the bridge was a perfect blend of red and grey skies, with a thunderstorm raging all over Haven City.

Confident about their chances, Jak assured everyone with him, "See? No problem."

"Look out!" Tess suddenly shrieked, as a trio of TIE fighters opened fire towards them. The head of the tower was knocked off, and there was no turning back for the four heroes.

"RUN!" Jak commanded his wife with panic. With the ottsels on their shoulders, Keira led the way and used her pistols to fire at the TIE fighters, while Jak ran in tow, using his gunstaff to shoot them down. They ran as fast as they can, jumping through all the obstacles and dodging the fast bullets that came from the Imperial fighters. Keira was able to take one down by shooting at the TIE fighter's wing, while Jak obliterated another by shooting at its cockpit. However, a third was still looming, and circling them as they got closer and closer to the edge of the palace.

Just before they got there, the TIE fighter shot down the edge of the bridge, taking the ledge of the palace with it. Keira was able to use the force to jump through the fire and smoke, and have enough height to land safely. Jak however, was not so lucky, as he fell through the destruction the TIE fighter caused. Luckily, he used his gunstaff to stop himself from falling by stabbing the palace wall with its sharp edges. He hung there for a few minutes. Keira thought for sure that her long-time love had died, until the smoke cleared and saw him hanging.

"Are you all right?" Keira shouted below towards her husband.

"I'm good!" Jak replied, "Just hangin' around here."

With that, the TIE fighter came flying back towards him. The Imperial pilot thrusted his aircraft towards him at full speed, opening fire on him. Like a gymnast, Jak dodged the blast by rotating himself around the gunstaff while still holding on to it. When he got close enough to him, Jak let go of his father's weapon, and stuck his feet out towards the windshield of the TIE fighter, knocking the pilot out and causing it to crash into the palace wall.

Keira stood there with her hands covering her mouth, thinking for sure that her husband had died. But her confidence in him was restored as he saw him summersault from twenty feet in the air, and landed on his feet safely.

She ran to him with tears of joy and spoke to him, "You're alive!"

"Did you ever doubt me for a second, baby?" Jak soothed his wife. They embraced each other and kissed. Daxter and Tess hopped down from their shoulders, and became immediately agitated with them kissing right in front of them, especially since the mission is not over yet.

"HEY LOVEBIRDS!" Jinx suddenly shouted towards them from afar, interrupting Jak and Keira's moment of intimacy. "QUIT SMOOCHIN' WILL YA!? WE GOT A PLANET TO SAVE REMEMBA!?"

"Told you they were alive," Jak softly bragged to Keira. They came together at the main balcony of the palace, all of them relieved that they survived the Empire's vicious attack.

"We thought we lost ya, Cherry," Sig told Jak, softly punching him in the shoulder, "Glad you're tough enough to stick with us just a little bit longer."

"And we thought you all were dead!" Daxter told them. "Where in the hell did you guys go?"

"The right way," Torn softly hissed at the ottsel with anger, "Unlike you guys who went the wrong way, almost got yourselves killed."

"Oh, and like you got here unscathed, tattoo-face!?" Daxter scolded him as he got into his face, "We carved through the best crap the Empire handed to us! What the hell did you even do!?"

"Can we just, not argue with each other for at least one moment!?" Ashelin suddenly interjected. "There is still time for us to contact other reigons for outside help before that Vader guy ends up infiltrating this palace. I don't see any signs of Imperials crawling around the palace halls, so that's a good sign. We must head to the war room now and contact the other cities on this planet for help."

"She's right," Samos agreed. "We must make haste! Move, now!"

Everyone got inside the palace halls and raced through the hallways to get to the war room. Jak unlocked the door with his key, and the door slid open. All of them were stunned, disappointed, scared, and angry at what they saw inside the war room. It was the worst thing that could have happened. They knew they were introduced to doom as they heard the mechanical breathing that came out of that room.

The man that stood up from the farthest chair of the circular table was Darth Vader, and he had Ratchet levitating from the ground, reaching for his neck as if Vader was choking him, and Clank lying on the table nearly destroyed.

The plan failed, and the mission was lost. They were too late to save Haven City.


	4. Chapter 4: Jak's First Duel

Chapter 4: Jak 's First Duel

However, the gang was still confident that there is still hope to save Haven City by only vanquishing Darth Vader. Yet they were angry for what his Empire had done to nearly half the planet. Driven out of rage, Sig shoved his way through everyone and aimed his peacemaker at Darth Vader. As Sig opened fire towards him, Vader flung Ratchet towards the electric sphere that came out of the weapon, and threw him against Sig, knocking him over. Then, Torn and Ashelin broke through and drew their pistols, shooting at the dark lord. Effortlessly, the Sith Lord blocked all of their shots with his own hands, and pushed Ashelin and Torn against everyone, knocking everyone down and forcing them outside the war room.

The attention quickly turned to Ratchet's wellbeing, as he was struggling to get up. It was clear that he was too weak to get up on his own, and was also heartbroken that he left his companion behind for dead. Jak and Keira assisted him to stand up on his own two feet.

"Are you all right?" Keira asked out of concern for Jak's fallen friend.

"Yeah…I'll…be okay…." Ratchet grunted as he stood up. He looked dizzy, disoriented, and somewhat confused as to what just happened. He continued, "Boy, that Vader guy is not one to be messed with. Even without guns or bombs he's still more powerful than anyone."

"What did he do to you?" Jak asked him.

"Well," Ratchet struggled to continue, "He stood outside the palace doors, alone, before any storm troopers showed up within the city. I ordered all of my men to take him down, but somehow he killed them, and destroyed Clank in the process. I tried to stop him myself, but he ended up torturing me, until he forced me to tell him where the two of you were. I'm sorry I sold you out. I couldn't take his torture anymore. I want to go back in there and take him on but I don't know how I can-"

"Ratchet," Jak stopped him, patting him on the shoulder. "It's all right. We knew that we had to deal with him somehow either way. In fact, Keira," He turned to his wife, "Heal him up, and get the others out of here as safely and as quickly as you can. I'll hold him off."

"Jak," Keira interjected, "I want you to think about this without getting angry: You literally just finished training today. Just because we finished Jedi training ten times faster than most people doesn't mean we are actually Jedi. There's still a ton of work to be done and only Jedi can fight against Sith Lords. You've seen how powerful this guy is already. Is your life for ours really worth it? Is killing this guy and saving the planet really worth sacrificing our marriage for? Face it; we aren't ready for this type of fight yet. You aren't ready yet. It's not worth it."

"Keira, I must face him alone," Jak told her, "I have to do this myself." He kissed her, and walked towards the door.

"Uh…Jak? Buddy?" Daxter approached him, tugging at his pant leg, "Don't you think you need your trusty sidekick along for the ride? Like we always have been doing it?"

"I said," Jak retorted to his ottsel sidekick, "I have to do this myself."

"Jak! Keira yelled at him, running towards him and grabbing his shoulder.

"Let him go, Keira!" Samos commanded his daughter, "It is the calling of the Force. I sense it too. This is the first step for him to fulfill his destiny. He must face him in order for him to become a Jedi. He has to do it at some point. Why not now while there is still a chance this planet can be saved?" He then turned his attention to Jak, "My boy, remember your training. Do not give in to any temptations that he could give you. I've trained you well enough to control your eco powers with the Force. Use them to defeat him, but don't get lost within them. You are strong enough to overcome the dark side. I know it."

"Thanks, Samos." Jak said as he slowly looked back at him as the door opened. Reluctantly, Keira released her husband's shoulder, and Jak walked into the now empty, desolated war room.

Everything was disorganized, disheveled, burnt, and destroyed. Jak looked at the center of the circular table and saw a burned, dented, and brutally damaged Clank laying face up with his eyes closed. Jak took the beaten and unconscious robot and placed him inside the brown holster on his back. From that holster he took out and looked at his new weapon; his light saber. After the destruction of his father's gunstaff and his own blasters from the carnage that came from getting to the palace, the bronze precursor stick was the only weapon Jak had left. It was that, his eco powers, and the Force by his side.

A door on Jak's left side suddenly opened. It led into the grand hallway of the palace, the place where Jak and Keira had their wedding and reception. This time it stood as an empty, circular battleground, with no one around except for Jak and Darth Vader to face each other. Jak could hear the dark lord breathing louder and louder, inviting the young hero to come face him.

He walked out of the door, into one of the balconies. The door shut behind him. Jak stared at Vader for a few moments, while Vader looked directly at him. He jumped from the balcony and landed on the floor, just about ten feet away from the dark lord. Jak would then pace around him, out of fear and out of anxiety, but also out of courage and out of confidence.

"Let me guess, you must be Darth Vader," Jak stating the obvious.

"That is correct…Jak," Vader affirmed.

"First of all, how the hell do you know my name? And second of all, why the hell are you destroying my city!?" Jak asked out of anger.

"Both of the questions you ask me only require the same answer," Vader continued, "The Emperor sensed a strong spark of the force coming from this planet, in this specific area. I searched this planet near and far for you and your companion, and thanks to your friend, I find you here. Now, the Emperor told me that there were two of you. Where is the other one? Where is Keira?"

Jak was shocked and terrified that Darth Vader learned all about them in such short of time. He retorted, "I'm not telling you, because you're never gonna find her. Why do you want us so bad? Out of all the people here on this planet with eco abilities, why do you want me and Keira?"

"Because I sense that you and Keira are very strong with these so called, 'eco abilities,'" Vader told him. "Which means you two are strong with the force. Especially you, Jak."

"How so?" Jak asked him, "Keira is more powerful than you think. She's done her fair share of killing metal heads with me, and even had the guts to stand up to the worst of Dark Makers, and fended them all off. I assure you when she gets here, you'll be her next victim."

Vader chuckled, "Your arrogance has blinded you, boy. She is very powerful, yes. But the difference between you and her is; I sense a great darkness from you. Right now I can feel your anger boiling within you, wanting to release itself from your body and on to me. That kind of power is so special, it can wipe out a whole planet."

Jak began to feel uneasy. As he slowly paced in circles around the Sith Lord, memories of his use of dark eco began to flash within his mind, causing him pain. He tried to ignore the flashbacks, and the taunting of Darth Vader, but the more he kept going on and on, the more pain he inflicted on Jak's mind. It was as if Vader was begging Jak to challenge him.

Vader continued, "Your power is so lethal it can be put to greater use for the dark side. Your wife's abilities will serve as a valuable asset for the Empire as well. Think of what we can accomplish together, Jak. Your yearning to become the greatest hero in the galaxy has driven you to this grand opportunity to fulfill your destiny. Join me, and together, the three of us will destroy all of our enemies, including the last of the Jedi, and even the Emperor himself. Then you and your wife will accomplish the very dream that you two envisioned: to save the galaxy. Your family will become the most powerful dynasty in the universe, and I will serve you however you see fit. Isn't that what you wanted, Jak? Power?"

At this point, Jak had heard enough out of the talkative cyborg. Although his offer sounded enticing he sensed that something was wrong. He envisioned his future if he joined Vader's side, and all he saw in his brief flash-forward was corruption, deception from the Emperor, which would ultimately lead to him killing Keira, and then Vader slaying him anyway. Thankfully for him, he used the force to see through Darth Vader's false promises, and he was not going to have any of it.

"No," Jak said in a quiet, vengeful tone, "I won't join you. I refuse to betray her, my friends, and the legacy that my father had left me. I refuse to give in to the dark side!"

Vader began to threaten him in response, "If you will not join me, not only you will die, but your friends will die, your citizens will die, and she (Keira) will fall to me. Everything on your precious little planet will be lost. Your father's legacy will end here under my blade."

"How do you expect to kill everyone I know…" Jak began to ask him as he walked towards him with anger, clenching his light saber in his right hand with a fist of rage, "…when you die under MY blade?" He finished asking the question, and drew his weapon. The blue beam of light extended towards the front of the villain's mask. His first steps of heroics did not faze the Sith Lord standing before him.

"You are unwise to have your first duel with a Sith Lord, boy, especially me." Vader warned him, "I assure you, the dark side of the Force is more powerful than you know. So what makes you think that you can defeat me without using your hatred? Your anger?"

Jak answered him, raising the tip of his sword closer to his mask, "You threatened my people, you insulted my one true love, you damned my friends, and you disrespected my father. You deserve to die for what you have done today. It's justice!"

In response, Darth Vader drew his red-beamed light saber, and barely touched his blade with Jak's. He told the great warrior, "This is just the beginning, 'hero'"

The duel was on. Jak charged first with three strikes in three different directions. Vader blocked them all, and he would utilize three offensive strikes of his own, faster and harder. Jak managed to block all three of them but the brute, swift swings from the Sith Lord caused him to lose his footing, and thus trip backwards. He was able to spring up quickly though, and he swung twice at his opponent, but missed.

Jak then pointed his light saber back at him, not intimidated by the dark lord's swordsmanship. Vader struck at him several times, driving Jak back towards the wall as he was blocking all of his shots. When he got close enough, Jak bounced himself off the wall behind him, and flipped over his adversary, changing his position. Then Jak utilized offensive strikes towards his opponent, driving him back to the center of the ballroom. They stopped swinging at each other when they got there.

Darth Vader was impressed with his opponent's craftsmanship with a lightsaber. He complimented Jak, "You have learned much in such short of time, young one. Your skills with a light saber are most excellent. I am truly impressed."

He continued, "But how keen is your knowledge with the Force? That remains to be the question."

Out of vengeance, the two swordsmen kept swinging at eachother until they held their blades together in a stalemate. Then, both of them reached out their left hands towards each other, almost touching one another. They were trying to use the force to shove each other out of the way.

Meanwhile, within the confined hallways of the palace, the rest of the gang, led by Keira, tried to rush their way out of the palace, until a blockade of storm troopers blocked the main elevator shaft. They aimed their guns at the renegades, and all of them looked confused as to what to do next.

"You go nowhere, rebel scum!" One of the storm troopers bellowed at them.

"Stand down in the name of the Galactic Empire!" Another one followed.

They turned around, and rushed outside on the palace rooftop. They were hammered with rain showers as well as shots from the blasters armed by the Imperial Troopers. They rushed until they slid on the edge of the roof, looking thousands of feet down below them. They saw blasts, explosions, and the screams from people and soldiers, as they were getting hurt or killed. Then, three more groups of storm troopers flanked the gang on the left and on the right. They were surrounded.

An army of storm troopers held them at gunpoint, and it seemed like this was the end for them. That is, until Daxter stepped in front of them.

"Surrender while you still can," the lead storm trooper commanded them, "You're outnumbered."

"We have more than numbers, tough guy!" Daxter bragged at him with bravado, poking him in the knee. All of the imperial troopers collectively started to laugh at the ottsel that stood in front of them, not even intimidated by his bold claim. This offended the ottsel as he started to get angry at them.

"What do you have, furball?" One storm trooper taunted him, "Claws of fury!?"

"Yeah, the best he can do is scratch us to death!" Another one laughed.

"Be careful of his 'sharp' teeth!" A third one chimed in, "He may bite our heads off!"

The more they laughed and taunted at him, the angrier Daxter became. The insults that the storm troopers rained upon him caused the ottsel to transform. First, his eyes went quickly to black. He then sprouted from two feet tall, to eight feet tall. His slender shape was replaced with a muscular build. He grew fangs and tusks for teeth, and spikes that ran from his forehead to his back. His fingernails and toenails became long black claws. The more he transformed, the more the laughter subsided. It filled the Imperial troopers with fear.

"NOW, YOU WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ALL PISS ME OFF, METALHEADS!" He roared.

"THAT FURBALL IS A MONSTER!" The first storm trooper shrieked, "SHOOT AT IT!"

They all fired shots at the monster, hitting him several times in several areas, but he refused to go down. He took the first storm trooper he saw, grabbed him with his large right hand, and flung him over the roof, sending the helpless imperial trooper in a long fall towards his death. The monster clawed, kicked, and ravaged his way past hundreds of troopers, killing them in the process. To help Daxter in his cause, the rest of the gang drew their pistols, their blasters, and their bombs in a valiant effort to make a stand.

Jak and Darth Vader were still at the stalemate that they put themselves in for several moments, holding their light sabers against one another and trying to push each other out of the way. They held together until they both ejected into the air in opposite directions. Jak was jettisoned onto the ledge nearest to the war room, while Vader flew onto the ledge nearest to the hallway that led to the royal commons. They both got up, and then jumped towards each other, light sabers in hand ready to strike each other.

Both of them flew at least one hundred feet in the air before they met each other, and they struck against their swords parallel to the center of the grand hallway. However, Vader managed to elbow Jak in the jaw, sending him on a sudden fall towards the ground and knocking his light saber out of his hand, retracting the blue beam.

"All too easy," Vader spoke softly to himself as he landed on his feet. He turned around and walked towards his adversary, struggling to get up. Through the Force, he lifted his opponent off the ground and had him in a chokehold. Jak was gasping for breath, unsure of what was going on since he was levitated off the ground and his oxygen circulation was cut off without anyone touching him. "Perhaps you weren't as strong as the Emperor thought." Vader insulted the fallen hero, throwing him back on the ground violently. He coldly finished to his opponent, "Which means dispatching you will be an easy task after all.

Jak turned himself over, looking face up, and noticed that the brass chandelier was shaking violently above him. Not only was the chandelier made up of a hard metal, but it was also scattered with hundreds of candles, and its circumference was four times smaller than the grand hallway itself. Jak figured out that it was Darth Vader using the Force to drop it upon him, meaning an instant and bloody death under a great fire. After a few moments, Vader released the chandelier, and Jak concentrated on the falling apparatus as it quickly drew closer too him. At the last minute he put his hands up towards it, stopping the chandelier from killing him at the last minute, and extinguishing the candles.

"Impressive," the Sith Lord commended Jak. He threw the broken chandelier towards Vader, thinking that it would kill him. Instead, Vader drew his light saber again, and sliced through the giant piece of debris into smaller fragments of metal. He jumped up ten feet in the air, and positioned himself to strike against the defenseless hero. Jak reached out his left hand towards his weapon, and it retracted into his palm like a magnet. Just before Vader's blade made contact with his face, Jak drew his light saber, and blocked Vader's violent strike, and held against it.

"Most Impressive," Vader told him sarcastically. Out of anger, Jak pushed Vader out of the way, sending him flying onto the ledge of the war room. He sprung back up, and shot electric beams of force lightning, fused with dark eco. Vader blocked it with his light saber. He was beginning to like what he saw out of his opponent. The anger within him was waiting to jump out of his soul and into his bloodstream, unleashing the warrior's wrath.

Jak jumped from the center of the grand ballroom onto the ledge that his enemy stood on, and charged at him, striking at the dark lord at all different directions. Vader was prepared enough to block all of Jak's shots, but he was being driven back by his adversary's strong blows. Halfway through the balcony, they held their blades against each other for a second and then released. That gave Darth Vader the opportunity to elbow Jak in the face, catching him off guard.

"Who ever your master is has taught you well," Vader complimented the hero. "But not well enough."

"How do you figure?" Jak asked in reply.

"Because your anger and your hatred for me is still buried deep inside of you," Vader told him. "Release it! Let your fear consume you and take over your mind and soul. It is your only way to destroy me."

Jak was about to unleash his dark powers onto his enemy, but took only a second to think of the consequences, and drew them back. The duel went on, and he continued to drive the dark lord back further and further.

The gang was still holding their own against the thousands of storm troopers, despite their small numbers. Daxter, still in his dark form, was still ravaging through the horde of Imperial troopers, but he was becoming noticeably tired. He was not attacking as brute or as swiftly as he was before. Keira saw this, and became concerned for Jak's companion. She threw her pistols over the roof, and took out her light saber. Samos immediately grew worried for his daughter.

"Keira, don't do this!" Samos commanded her, "Revealing your true self to the Empire means instant death!"

"Well if Jak can reveal his Jedi-self to the Empire, why cant I!?" She retorted at her father. "We have friends that are in trouble, in case you haven't noticed!"

"You're outnumbered!" Samos talked back. "Jak is fighting one on one. You can't win against a thousand! It's impossible!"

"If it were impossible, then why are the eight of us standing off against ten-thousand!?" She yelled at him. "It's the same odds! Jak is battling a powerful being-"

"Because that's a part of HIS DESTINY!" Samos yelled back. "YOUR TIME IS NOT HERE YET! IT WILL BE HERE SOON! HAVE PATIENCE FOR ONCE!"

"Look dad," Keira quietly assured him, "You let Jak go in there and fight of a SITH LORD! You let him do that, but you won't let me fend off a bunch of bucket heads that aren't even close to Vader's power, COMBINED!? You HAVE to let me do this, especially in the name of OUR friends, OUR planet, OUR HOME!"

With that, she turned around, and walked towards the struggling, weary, mutated ottsel. She could hear her father yelling back at her, commanding her to stand down to save her life. She ignored him, and kept walking forward. "I'm tougher than you think, daddy." She spoke softly to herself.

Daxter became exhausted. He couldn't go any further. As storm troopers in all different directions were hitting him, he began to shrink back to his normal self, and fell to the ground face down. They surrounded him, but ceased fire. One trooper held his gun towards the back of his head, and was prepared to extinguish him. Daxter bowed his head in shame, as he figured that this was it for him.

"Not so tough now are you, fur ball?" the storm trooper scoffed at him. Just before he pulled the trigger, a purple beam of light pierced through his chest. It was the blade of Keira's light saber. She drew it out of the fallen trooper's body as he fell, and she stared all of them down with defiance. They were mesmerized.

"Oh boy…" Daxter whispered to himself, struggling to get up.

"SHE'S A JEDI!" One trooper exclaimed, "KILL HER!" With this command, they all opened fire towards her. Amazingly, Keira was blocking shots with her weapon, and dodging bullets as well.

"DAX! GET OUT OF HERE!" She commanded the ottsel. Daxter sprinted out of the scene to aid the others, while Keira began to slice and dice the Imperial Troopers that tried to dispatch her. Samos watched his daughter fight against this army in amazement. Even though the Imperials had overwhelming numbers, they were no match for that one tough girl.

While his wife was outside holding her own against the overwhelming numbers of the Empire, Jak was facing some serious difficulty with dueling against the Empire's most notorious assassin, Darth Vader. However, despite the fact that he has struggled against him, he did gain a slight advantage over the dark lord, as he was driving him back towards the other end of the long ledge. They struck at each other, spinning their blades and their bodies, hopping over one another like leap frogs trying to gain the upper hand.

It wasn't until later that Jak had Darth Vader pinned right where he wanted him. Vader's back was facing towards the ledge and Jak was ready to drive him over. They crossed blades, and Vader shoved Jak backward with his elbow. Instantly, Jak used the Force to push Vader over the ledge. The dark lord landed awkwardly on his back, but quickly sprung back up. The situation that he was in was too familiar to him. His opponent had the high ground like he wanted. He knew that he could not afford to make the same mistake twice.

So Vader withdrew his light saber and used every ounce of anger and hatred against the hero. He lifted his hands up, and he concentrated deeply on his enemy, and the ledge that he was standing on. The ledge began to shake violently underneath Jak's feet, and he fell down as the broken ledge descended towards the ground.

Jak knew that he had to act quickly to stop the Sith Lord once and for all. He noticed one of the massive, immense pillar-statues of his ancestor, Mar, acting as a support for the ceiling. It was also attached to the massive window that spread the length of the great hall. He knew that bringing that pillar down would collapse the ceiling, and possibly the whole palace onto him. It could destroy his home, but that was his only chance.

He concentrated on the pillar, and used all of his mental strength from the Force to make it budge from the wall. It was much more challenging and more time consuming for him to break the pillar than it was for his adversary to collapse the ledge. After spending a long time and an astronomical amount of mental strength, trying to get it to budge off of the wall, he dethatched it. Once it broke free, he released it, causing it to fall down towards Darth Vader.

Vader looked up and saw the massive apparatus falling closer and closer towards him, and he caught the pillar at the last minute, levitating just inches above his head. The giant window had also broken free and parts of the roof fell down as well, but nowhere near where Vader was. Staring his enemy down with great vengeance and furious anger, Vader threw the pillar towards Jak with full force. Stunned and scared of the quick closing rate the pillar had coming towards him, Jak tucked away his light saber, and flew towards the door behind him. He landed on the stairs as pieces of stone debris were flying towards him, and he was walled in shut. There was no looking back for him now. Jak sprinted as fast as he could upstairs towards the master bedroom chamber.

The roof was collapsing upon the Sith Lord, and he knew he had to act fast. Ducking, diving, and dodging debris from every direction, Vader lept his way through the nearest door he could find, which was the door that led to the grand dining hall. Like his opponent, he was walled inside the room he entered. Unharmed and unscathed, Darth Vader scoured the remaining areas of the palace for the renegade hero, as he could sense that he was still alive, and trying to escape.


	5. Chapter 5: Escape from Home

Chapter 5: Escape From Home

While Jak was able to lose Vader inside the palace for the time being, the battle on the palace rooftop raged on. The eight heroes remaining on the rooftop were successfully holding their own against the Imperial forces…until a swarm of TIE fighters shot towards them. The battle transitioned from on the roof to in the air as many Halo ships shot down the Imperial star fighters. Nevertheless, the palace itself was becoming wounded, ally forces were taking serious casualties, and slowly but surely, Eco was becoming lost under the Empire's control.

Although Ratchet was successful in shooting down several waves of Imperial forces with his ion cannon, he was the first to realize that this battle, and this planet, would be lost. He could tell by observing his forces struggling to take down the best the Empire had. When he got the chance, he hid behind one of the palace walls and set down his weapon. He had a small tablet on his wrist, and used it to type in coordinates.

"We're not going to win this battle," He said grimly to himself as he was typing down the coordinates "There's just no way. Not a snowball's chance in hell." When he finished, he grabbed his weapon, and rejoined the fight.

Jak raced his way up the stairs until he reached the highest room in the palace, the master bedroom chamber. Jak too could sense that his city would be lost, but had no idea that the planet was going to be consumed by the Empire. Out of haste, he grabbed as many pictures and personal belongings he could fit inside his holster. He managed grab some Keira's personal belongings and favorite pieces of jewelry as well. The last two things he wanted to take were his wedding photo with Keira, and his seal of Mar necklace. These were his two prized possessions.

The seal of Mar was a bronze, Precursor emblem that was conceived by his ancestor, and passed down through several generations. Jak's father, Damas, was the last of the Mar bloodline to pass it down to him. He took the necklace and put it around his neck. He then picked up the picture frame, and stared at the picture of him kissing his bride on their wedding day. A tear shed down his face as he was looking at it. He tucked it away in his holster, and turned around to face the balcony.

"Going somewhere?" A voice suddenly bellowed. Jak turned around and was immediately struck with fear in his eyes. It was Darth Vader, standing in the opposite doorway with his light saber drawn. Before Jak could draw his weapon, Vader tossed his blade like a boomerang and cut the chandelier that stood above them. It too had flame candles, and once it hit the ground it set the whole room on fire. Jak was able to dodge the debris, but he wasn't prepared for Vader charging at him immediately afterwards.

Jinx, Torn, Ashelin, Sig, and Ratchet were using their firepower to withstand the Empire's artillery blasts, while Keira was forced to defend her father and her two ottsel companions, using her purple-bladed sword to block shots from Imperial troopers. The longer the fight went on, the more she struggled against them. The task became harder and harder for her. Samos wasn't that much of a help to her, because he was fearful of revealing his Jedi abilities to the Empire. With him, it would mean instant death.

Somehow, two storm troopers snuck behind the old green eco sage, and apprehended him. Daxter tried to fight back in retaliation, but was knocked to the side.

"This must be their master," one of them told the other, "We should take him to Lord Vader. I'm sure he'll be most pleased in dealing with him."

"No…" Keira whispered in reply. She suddenly saw a trio of TIE fighters flanking towards their side and closing in on them fast. This gave her a bright idea: '_Since I can't strike them down with this sword,'_ she thought, '_and if I deal with these two bimbos, they'll shoot us anyway. So what if I fling them towards those ships. Hmm…I think I may do that!'_

And she did just that. She levitated the two storm troopers, releasing her father, and she flew them into two of the TIE fighters, knocking the left wing off of the third one. That fighter was sent into a long but fast spiral towards the ground, and it exploded once it made impact.

Keira looked upwards towards the balcony of her bedroom chamber, and she noticed a blue beam and a red beam striking at each other. They were faint as the fog and the pouring rain vastly covered them, but she knew exactly what they were, and she became worried.

"YOU GUYS!" She yelled towards her comrades, "JAK'S IN TROUBLE! WE GOT TO HELP HIM!"

"WISH WE COULD, HONEY!" Ashlein yelled back as she was firing at storm troopers, "BUT WE GOT BIGGER PROBLEMS!"

All Keira could do at that point was wait with her light saber drawn in her hand. A tear began to roll down her face. She didn't want to see her husband die, especially if she had no control over that situation. '_He can't die,' _She thought to herself, '_Not yet…'_

The Dark Lord's anger and vengeance was fueling his rage with every strike from his weapon. He struck at the hero's blade several times, left and right, driving his opponent backwards towards the ledge of the balcony. He kicked his adversary, stumbling him back against the edge of the balcony, breaking the ledge. While Jak was trying to regain his balance, Vader swung at him, causing him to drop. He was able to grab the ledge with his left hand while still holding his drawn weapon in his right. He was clinging on for dear life at this point.

As Vader swung his light saber downward vigorously, Jak leapt over the massive cyborg, with his blade just missing his holster by a quarter of an inch. Once he landed on his feet, he quickly turned and struck at Vader's blade. The two swordsmen held position, with Vader's heels teetering towards the edge. As they were holding their swords together, Jak stared him down in anger, trying to force his enemy over. His skin was turning into a pale-white color in the process.

"Look over there, Jak!" Vader interrupted him. Jak looked over to his right as his skin became normal. He could see Imperial forces driving his friends backwards, and he could faintly see his wife stare at him out of desperation, "Your friends are in trouble. They are losing the fight of their lives, for the lives of the people that live on this wretched planet!"

"No…" Jak said coldly. "You can't take away millions of innocent lives across this planet for the expense of me. It's not fair! It won't even matter, because now you're about to die!"

"I don't think I am," Vader replied, "I think it is you who will meet your fate. You hold immense power, but you lack the courage to control it. You refuse to release the best of what you have even if your home is on the line. You did not release your power when you had the chance. You're weak because you held back by fear. Your fear is your downfall!"

With that, he pulled out a small detonator from his waist and into his right hand, while still holding position with his left. As he pushed the button on top of the detonator, the Sith Lord boldly yelled, "IT ENDS HERE, BOY!"

What nobody knew (not even the Imperial forces knew) was that Darth Vader placed a small but powerful bomb underneath the palace within the catacombs of Haven City. He was able to go underground and plant the bomb hours before he physically stepped foot on city grounds, which was also before the Imperial forces arrived on Haven City. Once he activated the detonator, the bomb ignited, and it sent the entire city under a massive earthquake.

As explosions were making their way upwards towards the palace, a ship arrived on the rooftop. It was a massive ship that was colored dark green with a yellow windshield. It had X-shaped wings towards the back of the thrusters that were armed for attack position, with blasters sticking out on all four ends. It had a pair of turrets on the top of the ship and on the bottom as well. This was the ship that Ratchet auto piloted with the coordinates he gave on his electronic wristband.

"COME ON!" The lombax yelled to his nearest companions as the palace began to teeter and shake violently. They all hopped on, with Keira and Samos barely making it on last as the rooftop disappeared below them.

Meanwhile on the top balcony, Vader withdrew his light saber and fell backwards from the balcony, disappearing into the smoke. Confused, yet fearful, Jak was struggling to hang on to the collapsing balcony, but it would be of no use. He fell downwards, looking up to the desolate gray sky, thinking that this really was the end of him. It was, until the ship that Ratchet piloted caught him as he was falling. A hatch opened below him, and next thing he knew, he was inside the large cockpit of the ship with all of his friends, alive and well.

"ON THOSE GUNS, NOW!" Ratchet barked, "I DON'T CARE WHO, JUST SHOOT DOWN AS MANY TIES AS YOU CAN!"

Daxter, Torn, Jinx, and Sig raced their way to the turrets and armed them. While they began work on shooting down Imperial fighters, a dejected and sorrowful Jak walked towards the back of the ship. Keira was relieved that her husband was okay, and ran up to him.

"Jak, honey," Keira said, nearly breaking into tears, "I'm so glad you're okay!" She hugged him, but he wouldn't embrace back. He kept walking away, and she became saddened.

"Let him go, Keira," Samos instructed her, "He needs time to be by himself. He's just in shock." Jak solemnly walked towards the furthest room in the back of the ship, shut the door behind him, sat on the bed, and buried his hands over his face, sulking, regretting that he didn't do enough to destroy Vader and to save his planet. Keira in the mean time, shook it off, and approached Ratchet, piloting the ship.

"So, where are we going now?" Keira asked the lombax.

"We're trying to move away from the Imperial forces so we can get off this planet," Ratchet told her, "I'm sorry, but Eco is lost."

"No!" Keira pleaded in denial. "We can't give up fighting for this planet. This is our home!"

"If we stay here, we die!" Ratchet retorted, "Once the Empire destroyed Haven City, they took this whole planet underneath their control. Now I'm trying to move out of orbit away from the Imperial blockade so that they don't shoot us down. I have those four, (Daxter, Sig, Torn, and Jinx) shooting down those TIEs for assurance."

"You said your forces could take down this Empire!" Keira yelled at him in anger. "You lied to us!"

"No," Ratchet continued, "I underestimated how strong the Empire would be against the Halo army. I thought I had the best of everything; troops, artillery, ships, weaponry, the whole nine yards. I was wrong. The Empire bought something with them that overpowered all of that, and they exploited all of my army's weaknesses. I'll have to go back to Raxus Prime to revise everything that I put together, and we would get there a lot faster if the hyperdrive were activated. Clank usually handles that…"

"Well…" Keira thought, "I'm pretty good at fixing stuff. Just give me the tools and I'll get that hyperdrive activated in no time!"

Ratchet reached underneath him momentarily and handed Keira a toolbox with a complete set of tools inside. "Here," he told her, "Go down stairs to the second floor towards the engine bay, and look for the fuse cell with a large blue beam in the center of it. You'll have to go underneath that cell and physically reconfigure the wiring and the hardware to reset this ship into hyperspace mode. Once you do that, we'll be on our way."

"On it!" Keira affirmed as she raced downstairs towards the engine bay. While she began work on reconfiguring the hyperdrive, the four that manned the turrets began bickering with each other as they were shooting down ties:

"Can't the little rat shoot down at least one fighter?" Torn sneered at Daxter.

"Don't worry about me, Tatoo-Face!" Daxter jeered back, as he shoots one down. "See! I CAN hit a TIE Fighter after all!"

"Looks like that'll be the only one you'll hit." Torn replied.

"You all are a bunch of wussies!" Jinx chimed in, "This is how you blow 'em outta da sky! Bada bing, BADA BOOM!" The sound effects he made fit perfectly with his accuracy, as he destroyed five TIE fighters together.

"ENOUGH WITH THE SHOWOFF AND THE BICKERING! Sig yelled at the other three, "IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MANY SHIPS YOU TAKE DOWN, AS LONG AS YOU TAKE THEM DOWN SO THAT THEY DON'T TAKE US DOWN! YOU GOT THAT!?" Intimidated by Sig's fierce orders, the three focused, and didn't say a word to each other since.

Meanwhile, Jak was still sitting in the room, looking out the window, noticing that Eco was drifting further and further away from him. He looked at his home planet in sorrow, accepting that this would be the last time he would ever see it. He knew as soon as the ship left the atmosphere, that there was no turning back for him now, or anyone else. He as a hero would leave all the people that depended on him behind forever. For that, Jak felt like a failure for the first time in his life.

While Daxter, Torn, Sig, and Jinx climbed down from the turrets approaching the cockpit. Keira ran in front of them, lifting the tool box up in the air with pride.

"All done!" She claimed.

"Awesome! I hope this works," Ratchet instructed the gang, "Everyone hang on!"

He dropped down a lever towards him, and the ship suddenly took off in rapid speed, and advanced through the stars in deep hyperspace.


	6. Chapter 6: Vader's Discovery

Chapter 6: Vader's Discovery

As he fell from the top balcony of the palace, Darth Vader was swept up by an Imperial shuttle and carried over to safety to the nearest Star Destroyer. Casually, he looked down from the window at the control station, and took in the sight of Haven City as a whole plummeting under the Empire's control. Although the mask hid his emotions, he was most pleased with the work he did on Eco today. One of Darth Vader's commanders on the ship, Commander Creed, approached Vader while he was looking out the window. He was a fair-skinned, muscular built was dressed in all black, carried two pistols on both sides of his waist, and a bigger, semi-automatic blaster across his back. He had dark red hair, and a scar across his right eye.

"My Lord," Commander Creed started, "we found this dead body buried beneath the catacombs. He seems to be leaking some kind of purple-dark fluid. We became very curious of it, so I had the scientists run some tests, and I have the results here."

"Go on…" Vader spoke as he turned around to face Creed.

"This is a substance called, dark eco," Creed started reading the reports, "It's a substance that can mutate a whole living thing into a different, and more lethal form. It can give anyone and anything dangerous abilities our society would consider to be unnatural. These powers are often triggered in a person out of fear or anger. Powers include: A type of force lightning, super strength, brute attacks, blasts of dark eco, super speed, and activating a lethal ring that can wipe out a whole planet, at worst. People on this planet for centuries crave for this substance. It's like their drug. They use it to power air ships, weapons of mass destruction-"

"Stop." Vader cut him off, "This must have been the substance I sensed in Jak…" he continued to himself.

"I'm sorry?" Creed inquired.

"It's nothing relevant now," Vader affirmed. "He was one of the few Jedi I killed today. It was different with him, I could've sworn I sensed Dark Eco within his body through his anger…"

He continued, "Now it matters not. He is dead. But if this substance can power weapons of mass destruction, then this can be a key ingredient for the construction of the Death Star. Bring me the body you found so I can see for it myself, then send the reports to the Emperor, and then order the miners and excavators to start searching near, far, and underground for this substance. I want every last drop of Dark Eco extracted from this planet, and stored away with us so we can take it to the Death Star. We need all of it if the Death Star can become the fully operational weapon that the Emperor so desires. Do what must be done."

"Yes, my lord." Creed affirmed as he walked away. Vader's portable communicator was ringing. It was the Emperor calling him. He pulled the small device from his waist and placed it on the palm of his hand. A small hologram of Darth Sidious appeared from the device, and he was facing his apprentice.

"Is it finished, Lord Vader?" The hologram inquired.

"Yes, the capitol of Haven City has been destroyed, all of their forces surrendered to us, and the planet has been taken under our control," Vader replied.

"And what of the Jedi?" Sidious continued.

"Dead," Vader affirmed. "I dispatched the boy myself, while the girl died along with all of their allies. They are no longer a threat to us."

"Excellent," The Emperor chuckled evilly.

"There is more news," Vader continued, "My forces discovered a substance called, 'dark eco'. I am transporting every last drop of this substance from this planet. My scientists are sending you the reports for this substance as we speak. Once you look into them, you will find that this substance is so lethal yet so powerful, it can wipe out a whole planet by itself. I believe that this is the key ingredient we need to operate the firepower for the Death Star."

"That is wonderful news," The Emperor said with slight glee, "You have done more than well, my apprentice. There is more where this abomination came from. Soon, you will single-handedly conquer every living planet under your control, extinguish all opposing threats, and control the galaxy. Now, search within yourself the next world that we need to conquer. Search for any remaining Jedi outcasts across the galaxy near and far, and destroy them as quickly as you can, just as you just did today."

"As you wish, my Master," Vader signed off, the hologram disappeared, and he tucked the device away.

"My lord," Creed interjected as he walked back in with a levitating crate. "This is the body that you asked for, you may want to take a look at this."

Vader approached the crate and looked down on it along with the commander. The body was half human, half cyborg, with cyber kinetic implants covering half of his face. He had only his human left arm, and lacked a right arm and legs. His torso was burnt, dented, opened up, and fairly damaged. Dark Eco was pouring out of the leg sockets, filling the crate. This was the cyborg body of Errol, Jak's old nemesis for many years.

Darth Vader took two fingers and dabbed the puddle of dark eco. He picked up the drop that he contracted, and examined it upon his glove. Suddenly, the left hand of Errol clenched Vader's wrist, and the cyborg stared at him with rage. Someway, somehow, Errol came back to life again.

Out of haste and panic, Vader flung the wounded, nearly limbless cyborg against the window, bouncing down towards the ground. Still enraged, Errol tried to charge towards the dark lord while crawling on his one hand, but was suddenly interrupted when Commander Creed took the back of his rifle and smashed it against his skull, knocking him out unconscious.

Moments later, Errol suddenly awoke on a table in a dark room; screaming as if he had just woke up from a terrifying nightmare. He first looked around and saw nothing but darkness. He examined the probes and devices that surrounded his head. He noticed that he had new, human-like robotic prosthetics for his legs and his arm. He felt thinner, yet somehow harnessed more strength. He noticed that a dark eco crystal replaced his heart, and it was the only thing that was keeping him alive. He sprung onto his feet, stood up, and looked at the dark figure of Lord Vader standing across from him on the bridge.

"You're lucky I even had the slightest bit of interest to keep you alive, Errol." Vader told him as he approached him.

"No…" Errol suddenly shivered. "I can't be imprisoned like him. I can't be tortured and experimented like him. I can't be another dark eco freak like him. He can't keep undermining me! I don't deserve this!" After his rant to himself, he stared upwards towards Vader, and vehemently asked him. "What are you!?"

"I am your new master, Darth Vader. I am the Dark Lord of the Sith."

"New Master!?" Errol scoffed. "What are these, 'Sith?'"

"They are a powerful group of warriors driven by the dark side of the Force," Vader explained. "They have controlled the balance of the galaxy for thousands of years. They even rule it now."

"Where is Jak!?" Errol demanded, "I want his head! He ruined me! I had everything I wanted until he came along!"

"I dispatched him and his friends for you," Vader told him. "He is of no worry to you anymore." Errol then screamed out of anger, and lashed a long blast of dark eco force lighting towards the Sith Lord. Vader was able to deflect it with the palm of his hand, and the beams backfired towards Errol. Knocking him on his back.

"You have gained a lot of interest for me in the last few minutes, Errol." Vader complimented to him. "Especially with the dark eco within you flowing through your blood stream. It gives you much anger and hatred, and it fuels the power you have now."

"What's the point of using all of that power…" Errol sneered, "when you don't have anyone to kill for revenge!?"

"Because," Vader continued, "Jak recently became a part of another group of warriors called the Jedi. They have been opposing with the Sith and threatening peace across the galaxy for thousands and thousands of years. There are still many Jedi Knights remaining in the galaxy throughout thousands of worlds. In order to instill peace in our universe, it is our job to destroy the Jedi race for good. They are renegades, outcasts, and inferior warriors like he was."

"So why do you need me?" Errol continued to ask.

"With the proper training you could become a powerful Sith Acolyte." Vader told him. "The dark eco within you is present, yes. But we must hone it if you are to become one of the most feared assassins in the universe. "

Errol became enticed with Vader's offer. He liked the sound of becoming an assassin for the most powerful Empire in galactic history. "Go on…" he replied.

"I will teach you the ways of the Dark Side of the Force," Vader affirmed to him.

"What is the Force?" Errol asked him.

"It is a power that is even greater than eco." Vader answered him. "It is the form of life that keeps this galaxy in balance. There are two sides: Light and dark. I am a master of the Dark Side, and I can teach you all of the Dark Side's most powerful secrets and attributes, that are capable for complete galactic control. I can give you all the power that you have desired in the past and even more if you fall under my tutelage. If you become my apprentice, together, we can rapidly wipe out every last living Jedi in the galaxy! We will even overthrow the ruler of our grand new Empire, Darth Sidious, and rule the galaxy together!" Once he finished, he knew he had Errol reeled in under his control. He just wanted to hear it for himself. "Errol," he continued, "will you serve me and help me take control of the galaxy. Are you willing to take what is rightfully ours? Do you want all the power in the universe?"

"I will forever serve you, my Master." Errol answered as he bowed down to him on one knee.

"Good, rise." Vader commanded him, "I have a gift for you," He took out a light saber with a peculiar design and placed it on Errol's hands. "This is your new weapon. This weapon of the Sith is called a light saber. This weapon in particular was re-discovered by my master on our home planet of Korriban. It was last used by the ancient Sith Lord, Darth Malgus, Dark Lord of the Sith from thousands of years ago. He was the most feared killer in the galaxy during the time of the Old Republic. He was brute, relentless, fearless, and full of anger. This weapon was a part of him, and I sense a good part of Malgus within you, my new apprentice."

Errol ignited the light saber, and pointed the red beam upwards towards the ceiling. He gave it an evil grin. He felt satisfaction from holding his weapon. He could picture himself slaying thousands of Jedi across the galaxy, overthrowing the Emperor, and ruling the galaxy, with everyone across the universe serving under his command. He had a vision of him serving as the new Dark Emperor, and he liked what he saw. He bowed to his master in gratitude.

"Come with me," Vader commanded his new apprentice, "More will be here for you soon."


	7. Chapter 7: Homeless

Chapter 7: Homeless

Deep in hyperspace on board of Ratchet's ship, Jak sat in his room, alone, sulking in regret for what just happened. Every time he looked out the window, the depression grew because he could no longer see his home planet. He could no longer help the people that counted on him. Soon, Daxter and Keira walked into the room, both of them concerned of Jak's wellbeing.

"Uh…Jak? Buddy?" Daxter began to pry at his best friend, "Look, I don't know what the hell is wrong with you lately, but ever since you took into this 'Jedi Crap' you became a completely different person. You've become more moody and mopey than a chick that got dumped at the prom! You'll fling that wimp stick around instead of using your eco powers, you broke all of your weapons, and you left all of us out there in the freezing rain with more explosions than you can shake that wimp stick at, just so you can fight that Vader guy alone! I told you we could've taken him together! But since I've been there for you since day one, and for that I'll ask you one question," He then suddenly grabbed his friend's shoulders and yelled into his face, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH YOU!?"

"DAXTER!" Keira barked at the orange ottsel, "Let me talk to him, I'll handle this." She then turned to Jak, sat next to him, and embraced him with her left hand on his shoulder, and her right holding his hand. "What's wrong, Jak?"

"I failed." Jak softly replied to her.

Keria tried to make him feel better. She told him, "No you didn't, Jak. We all knew-"

"Yes Keira, I did." Jak said as he stood up. "Daxter was right. I didn't do enough to save our planet and the people that live on it. So many people I have come to know and love over the years died today because I let them down. For the first time in my entire life, I failed a mission. Not just any mission, but the one that mattered most."

"Jak," Keira continued as he tried to reason with him. "I'm sure you did everything you could. The Empire was just too strong for our forces to hold them off. Plus, Vader didn't really kill us like he thought he did, so that gives us an opportunity to save an entire galaxy. To save millions and billions of more people than the ones that ever lived back at home! You may not realize this yet, but there are people across this universe that are counting on us more than ever, in their desperate times. We have a chance to do something that's bigger than us. That's why you haven't failed this mission yet!"

"I had Vader right where I wanted him too," Jak continued as he turned around to face his wife, "Several times during our fight, I had him at his weakest points. I could've used my light eco powers to destroy him for good. If I had done that, we wouldn't be in space right now. We would be still at home rebuilding our planet. And believe me, that is what I would rather be doing."

"So why didn't you use them?" Daxter intervened.

"Because," Jak held back for a moment, sat down on the bed, and continued, "Because I was afraid I would lose you guys if I did."

"Care to elaborate on that more?" Daxter pried at him again.

Jak continued to tell them, "Lately, before I even knew of this Jedi stuff, I've been having visions. Terrifying visions, of me losing control of my eco powers. Dark and light eco would fuse within me to consume me from the inside out; making me lose any sub consciousness I had left in my mind. This would make me kill everyone I know unwillingly, including you guys. After that happens, the eco has consumed my body as a whole, and I somehow explode and become nothing. Vader tried to force me to use my dark eco powers against him during the duel. He insulted me and threatened you guys and the rest of our friends. Because of that, I almost lost myself within them. Luckily, I had enough control to retract them; because I was afraid that would be the day I would forever lose myself to them. I wake up everyday full of fear, hoping that day would never come, because I care about you guys more than anything. I was afraid that if I use my eco powers too much, I might lose myself and cause total destruction in the universe. I didn't want to tell you guys about these visions I've been having because I didn't want to scare everyone. My fear cost me our home, and I realize now that if I had used them at that moment, we would have a planet to live on and a life worth living. And for that, I'm sorry, to everyone."

"I knew you were having these problems all along, Jak!" Samos interjected as he barged into the room, "That's why I taught you to use the Force, WITH your eco powers! With the aid of the Force, the actions you have been seeing in your visions will never happen!"

Keira stepped in and said to him, "Daddy, I don't think this is a good time to-"

"This is the perfect time to discuss this!" Samos cut his daughter off. Keira had a disgusted look on her face after that. She hated the fact that she was cut off twice. Samos turned to Jak and told him, "Now Jak, I trained you well enough for you to know that the only way to prevent your eco powers from taking over your mind and soul is to use them with the Force while you're still alive. Before you fought Vader, I told you not to be afraid to use them. Fear got into your head and made you reluctant to unleash everything you had when our home was on the line!"

"I'm sorry, Samos," Jak told him, "I don't know what came over me. I guess Keira was right, I wasn't ready enough to face him yet. I didn't feel I was powerful enough to use my eco powers against him."

"But you were, my boy. That's the thing!" Samos said to him, "You see, If you are reluctant to utilize your special eco powers when you open yourself to the Force, you become that much more vulnerable to fall into the Dark Side!"

"Well, I definitely don't want to do that." Jak told him.

"I know you don't my boy," Samos continued to encourage him as he walked to stand in front of him. "That's why you must use your eco powers as much as you can to save the galaxy, us, and even yourself. Dark, light, it doesn't matter! What matters is with your exceptional powers and with the Force by your side, you're the most powerful weapon we've got! We need you. The galaxy now needs you. Keira was right; the loss of our planet was a necessary loss, because it allows us to save an entire galaxy, OUR galaxy! This mission is bigger than us and the only way to accomplish it is to stop the Empire with everything we've got!"

Samos finished this monologue to Jak just before he left the room, "Jak, the fate of an entire universe is now in your hands. You have two options: You can either sulk and feel sorry for yourself since it's the first time you lost something, or you can face up to what you've done and redeem yourself by saving billions of people across the universe in their most desperate time of need. The choice is yours." He finished, and walked away.

"Jak," Keira spoke to him as he stood up directly in front of her, "I know you won't give up and join the fight. I have faith that whatever is haunting you in your visions not come true. I know you have the will and the drive to help us destroy this Empire once and for all. You are tough on the outside, but deep down inside, your care for the people around you makes you special, even when you do transform. That is why I married you." She kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks Keira," Jak said in gratitude and relief. "I feel a lot better thanks to you. I'll join the fight. C'mon Dax!"

The three walked out of the bedroom and out of the bedroom hallway into the command center of the ship. It was about ten feet away from the cockpit. Like the war room back at the palace, it had a circular table with a projector on it, and everyone was occupying the seats. Once they saw Jak come out of the hallway, they all stood up and cheered for him in approval, handing him nothing but praise. Sig and Torn would soon surround him.

"Good to have you back, Jak!" Sig praised him, patting him on the back. "Listen," he continued, "don't be thinking about the past too much. Whatever happened happened. It's nothing to get upset about now. Just keep your head up, Chili Pepper, because we'll be blowing out those Imperial creeps in no time! Just like we did with those nasty metalheads!"

"Good to have you back pal," Torn chimed in. "We can't fight this fight without you. What's done is done. We need your strength and your power to destroy those Imperial goons once and for all."

"Thanks guys." Jak replied to them softly with enlightenment.

"I'm glad to see you in a better mood, Jak!" Ratchet said as he approached him, "Unlike how you are usually."

"Hey don't start with me pal," Jak retorted facetiously, "you'll kill the moment."

"Very well then, tough guy!" Ratchet joked back. He suddenly remembered, "Oh! Where are my manners? I would like to cordially introduce to everyone the toughest, fastest, and one of the overall best ships in the galaxy: The Renegade! You guys have seen all of the weaponry that it has when we held off those guys coming from Eco-"

"Which reminds me…" Jak spoke to himself softly, cutting Ratchet off. He quickly grabbed his holster off his back and dumped out all the items that were inside of it. "At least we didn't leave our planet _completely _behind." They were all amazed of all the items he bought back with him. Especially Keira.

"Awh, Jak!" Keira spoke affectionately, "You bought back all of our stuff from our room!?"

"Well, not ALL of it," Jak corrected her, "The bag can only fit so much, you know?"

"Oh," she spoke softly, as she noticed the picture of their wedding kiss. Her eyes began to fill up with tears of joy, she said to him with her heart warm, "and you even brought the picture of us on our wedding day with you!"

"How could I not?" Jak replied to her with pride and joy. "It was the best moment of my life."

"You simply are amazing." Keira said to him, gazing at his face with her dreamy green eyes.

"Hey!" Ratchet suddenly exclaimed, interrupting Jak and Keira's intimate moment, "You even brought Clank back with you!" He was overjoyed that Jak was able to bring Clank back to him.

"Had to," Jak began to explain to him. "You wouldn't last a second without your sidekick. I know I can'.t" He finished by giving Daxter a noogie. The ottsel appreciated Jak's comments to him, but not the noogie.

"But still…" Ratchet's tone transitioned from exuberant to melancholy, "He can't be of any use to us at all if he's…you know, broken."

Jak began to uplift Ratchet by telling him, "Well I figured 'little miss mechanic here,' (nudging Keira) would help you out by fixing him up and getting him back going again!"

"Keira," Ratchet began to plead to her, "do you think you can fix him?"

"Let me see…" Keira said as she picked up the miniature and heavily damaged robot. She began her examinations by removing his chest plate and the back of his head, thoroughly examining the extent of the damage with a small microscope. She formed up her prognosis: "Looks like he'll need new small cyber kinetic limbs that match the ones he has on right now, a small cranial power generator that I'll have to install through the temporal side of his head, which transmits electricity to the six micro-circuit breakers in his chest, which I also need as well. To finish things off would be some small repairs for the exterior cosmetic damage that he sustained, and then he should be good as new!" She concluded, "Yeah, I have the parts and pieces to fix him up in no time."

"Thanks Keira!" A relieved Ratchet said to her in gratitude.

"No problem!" Keira replied to him as she walked away from the control room and down to the second floor of the renegade with Clank in her hands. Now the attention turned to Jak, as everyone became eager to hear of his encounter with Darth Vader.

"So, tough guy," Ashelin began the meeting, "What was it like to take Vader on face to face?"

"He was very powerful," Jak gravely replied to her as he took his seat at the table. He then turned to everyone, "He was unlike anyone or anything I've ever faced before. Ruthless, relentless, and shows no mercy for anyone that he faces. It's because of the darkness within him. There's a ton of it for sure."

"Which is why Darth Vader and the Empire that he leads is more dangerous than anything the people in the galaxy will ever know!" Samos added on.

"Actually," Jak began to correct the sage, "I don't think he's leading the Empire's charge. He plays a huge role in it we know that. But I know he's not the guy that's in total command. I think he made mentions of this, Emperor guy, whoever he is. He didn't really get into telling me who he really is. He just mentioned him, that's all."

"How do ya know this?" Jinx asked him.

"He kinda spoiled his plan to me a little bit," Jak began to reveal details; "he was trying to persuade me into joining him to help defeat this Emperor. I refused because I could see what would happen if I did, and I'm telling you all every good thing that he would promise to you (if you ever meet him) is completely false. It would involve killing the last of the Jedi remaining in the universe and him eventually killing Keira and I once the Emperor would die. He wants complete control of the galaxy to himself."

"Then the only way to destroy this Empire is to blow those two creeps deep into outer space!" Sig boisterously suggested, "That way, the Empire wouldn't even have a ruler, it would be in complete chaos, and we can expose those Imperial creeps from the inside out!"

"That's easier said than done," Samos coldly intervened, "It would be even more difficult if Vader begins to acquire any followers, which I'm afraid he might somehow. He'll give that same offer to any of the remaining Jedi in the galaxy. Most will refuse, and he'll kill them. But the ones that don't could be very dangerous."

"Which is why we have to act quickly before Vader starts to build an army of his own along with the Empire." Jak declared, "If he becomes Emperor, it could spell doom for the galaxy."

"Not to mention all the advanced warfare and technology the Empire has already." Ratchet added along. Then he thought; "If only Clank were up and running again, he would give us some Intel on where the Empire is constructing all of these weapons and ships, what factories are they using on what system, how they're operated, everything."

"And I am fully operational to assist you with retaining that Intel, my good friend!" Clank suddenly barged in with bravado. He looked good as new, as if nothing ever happened to him. Ratchet and Clank were overjoyed to see each other, and beyond thankful that Keira reunited them again.

"Clank!" he yelled at his robot sidekick with joy. They ran to each other and embraced one another. He told him, "I'm glad to have you back, buddy!" He then turned to Keira, who just walked out from the repair room in the second floor. "Keira," he began to speak, "that was the quickest I have ever seen anyone make repairs on anything. You really are simply amazing!"

"Hey!" Jak began to jokingly taunt Ratchet, "I was supposed to say that to her!"

"Ehh," Keira began to reply to Ratchet, "I try!" She then added, "I also gave him the lowdown on everything that's been happening once I woke him up again."

"How can I ever repay you?" The lombax asked her.

"You can start by protecting our tails, fur ball!" Keira taunted Ratchet playfully, rubbing his head.

"HEY!" Daxter suddenly chimed in, "I thought I was the fur ball around here! What am I!? Chopped Liver!?"

"No Daxter," Samos began to chide the ottsel, "You're just an obnoxious and loud weasel."

An alert signal ignited from the cockpit. Clank was the first to notice. "Ratchet," he began to warn him, "It looks like we're approaching on a planet too fast!"

"YIKES!" Ratchet exclaimed. "Got to take this old girl out of light speed before she won't be an old girl at all." He rushed to the controls and set the Renegade out of light speed, just before they touched the atmosphere of Raxus Prime.

"Well my friends," Ratchet began to speak to everyone, "Welcome to the 'glorious' planet of Raxus Prime. Yes, it's nasty looking for sure, with the molten lava and scrap metal and everything. This is where expired droids go when they don't work anymore. Heck, this is where Clank probably would've ended up had Keira not fixed him up."

Clank gulped out of fear. Ratchet was able to calm him down. "Don't worry buddy, just be thankful you're not gonna be with them now," He told his sidekick, and then continued on to everyone else, "Anyway, the underground fortress that we're going to is going to be a lot more peaceful than what you guys see now. You'll get just enough hospitality you need. I'll take you there now."

Ratchet flew the Renegade through the volcanic terrains of the barren planet until he found a cliff where there was a large hangar bay. He flew the ship underneath it and put it down in the landing area. The gang all exited the ship, stretched, and looked around the hanger, amazed. The Halo army's display of weapons, artillery, and spacecraft were quite impressive to say the least. Star fighters, big guns, and bombs as far as the eye can see. They all gazed in wonder.

"This is the most amazing set of weaponry I have ever seen!" Jinx said in awe.

"That's just the tip of the iceberg buddy," Ratchet began his bold claim. "Just wait until we take even more of these babies to the Empire!"

"We'll fry those Imperial creeps faster than a farm full of chickens!" Sig exclaimed pompously, "Can't wait to get started on the home cooking baby!"

"Well I'm afraid you're gonna have to for just a little bit big guy," Ratchet reassured him, "Because I got to make some plans on some serious upgrades if we're gonna have a chance. While I deal with my men, why don't you guys make yourselves at home in the living quarters? There's plenty of food to eat and plenty of rooms to sleep! Y'all are gonna need it!"

"HECK YES WE ARE!" Daxter exclaimed loudly with excitement, jumping up and down on the ground. "All this fighting, and shooting, and blasting, and blowing up stuff all day sure got my stomach empty. Gimme some grub! I got a galaxy to save!"

"WE got a galaxy to save, Daxter," Samos wisely corrected him. He led the gang out front towards the living quarters, "Come everyone!" he began to implore, "We must eat up and rest up immediately. Tomorrow begins our adventure through the universe!"

"Can't wait." Jak said quietly to himself. They proceeded into the living quarters and stayed through the night.


	8. Chapter 8: Two Missions, One Purpose

Chapter 8: Two Missions, One Purpose

Later that night, Jak had trouble sleeping while everyone else found immediate comfort in the living quarters. The nightmares that he was having were beginning to pester his mind yet again. He tossed and turned his head, grunting out of fear.

In his vision, He was in some type of large space station, with a large window that looked out into deep space with Eco being attacked by the Empire. He saw an image of a black-cloaked figure, which he assumed to be the Emperor, and he also saw Darth Vader looking on. His face was hidden but he could see the yellow and red eyes beaming from the dark shadows of his cloak.

He was torturing Jak with long, painful shocks of force lightning. He forced Jak to unleash his anger and have him turn himself into his dark eco form against his will. He would eventually have pale skin, white hair, black eyes, claws, and horns on his head, sharp teeth, and a complete loss of mental control. While that was happening, he was witnessing Vader slaying all of his friends, but he left Keira and Daxter alive for his taking.

"Your destiny lies with me, Jak," The cloaked man spoke in a dark tone. "If you want the universe my apprentice, you must take it for yourself and yourself alone!"

Out of anger, he drew his light saber. Then he unleashed flashes of dark eco force lightning towards the dark figure, disintegrating him into smithereens. Then he charged towards Darth Vader. Vader didn't put up much of a fight, as he was decapitated by Jak's blade on account of his rage. Then he turned to Daxter and Keira, who were helpless, weaponless, and shivering with fear.

"Jak…" Daxter trembled, "Uh…this isn't you buddy. Settle down! The galaxy is saved remember!?"

"Jak don't do this!" Keira suddenly cried, begging him to stop this madness. "It's the Dark Side that poisoned your mind. Fight it! Don't let it consume you!"

Jak ignored them both, and he levitated them off the ground, choking them. Then he threw them against the window, knocking them against each other on the ground.

"JAK PLEASE!" Keira shrieked in fear. "I LOVE YOU! DON'T YOU KNOW THAT!?"

All of the sudden, Jak sprang up to approximately thirty feet in the air with his light saber pointing directly down at them. As Jak accelerated his blade towards them rapidly, Daxter and Keira screamed of horror, with tears raining from their faces and their shrieks piercing their lungs. Nevertheless the blade impaled both the ottsel and the hero's lover.

At the moment when the blade made the impact on them in his vision, Jak suddenly sprung up, waking himself from this nightmare. He screamed out of fear and anxiety as he sat up on his bed. After a few moments of panting violently and looking around the room, Jak turned himself over and took the covers off of him. He was wearing nothing but a pair of blue shorts. He bowed his head down towards the ground and buried his face underneath his palms. He sat up and looked back towards his beautiful wife Keira, who was still sound asleep, wearing only a teal nightgown.

He stood up and began to walk out of the room, but couldn't do it without noticing Daxter on the hammock snoring loudly and mumbling incoherent words. He exited the living quarters and proceeded towards the main hangar bay. Keira all of the sudden woke up and noticed that her husband had left the bed, and that the door was open. She became confused as to why he left, and worried for his mental state. She took it upon herself to go look for him within the underground fortress. Keira left the living quarters and entered into the main hangar bay, where she saw Jak standing firmly on the edge of the hangar with his arms folded across his chest, and looking deeply into the deep night. She walked towards her husband.

"It's been a rough couple of days, hasn't it?" Keira asked him, rubbing his shoulder gently.

"Yeah," Jak softly replied to her. "It's been eventful to say the least."

"Are your visions bothering you again?" She continued.

"Yes," Jak confirmed.

"But I thought you said you weren't afraid to use your eco powers." Keira told him.

"I'm not," Jak insisted to her as he turned around to face her. "Yet these visions still haunt me. It may not just be the eco powers, but more so what we're fighting against. Vader and the Emperor have to be destroyed at all costs. You'll all die if they don't."

"Of course they have do die, honey!" Keira re-stated the obvious, "That's what we're here for! Kill them before they kill us!"

"Sorry," Jak began to atone for himself, "It's already been a long night and everything and-"

"Jak," Keira quickly cut him off and grabbed him towards her by his waist, then proceeded to rub her hands on his chest softly. "You don't need to worry about these predictions in your head anymore. They won't happen. You got me, Daxter, all of our friends, your gifted eco powers, and the Force all by your side. Because of all of that, I think the Empire fears YOU my love; you just don't know it yet. I've come to know and fallen in love with you for a very long time, not because I thought you were cute, or funny, or so sweet to me, but more because of how tough you are, how brave you are, and how you are always willing to fight for others around you. I knew you were special right when I met you. I knew from the first time I gazed into your ocean-blue eyes that there would be no one else I would rather spend my whole life full of adventure with. The Force did bring us together the day that we met, so it's gonna be the Force keeping us together until the end of time, no matter what happens to us!"

"Oh, Keira," Jak whispered to her softly, caressing her back and rubbing it smoothly, "This is why I married you. I knew from the day your father bought me into his hut to meet you, I knew I had to have you. No matter what happened to us, through thick and thin, you always have been by my side. You gave me humility and confidence in myself again. Next to Daxter, you've been my greatest companion yet. There would be no way I could live without you. If the Force bought us here together on the day we first met, and if they formed to hearts into one, then dammit, they're gonna stay together no matter what happens to me. No matter what I become, or say, or do, I will always be by your side, Keira. I want to take on the Empire head-on with you by my side, and I'll love you every day after that until my heart stops beating. I love you, Keira Hagai. Don't ever forget that."

"Oh my goodness," Keira stammered with tears of joy, "I married a poet!"

"I learned from the best, right?" Jak replied to her.

They kissed, and then Keira developed a mischievous look in her eyes. "You know," she purred softly, "I know just what to do to fix that sleeping problem of yours." She drew closer to him, and whispered softly, "How about you and I have some, _fun,_ tonight?"

"Wow," Jak became nervous, yet was intrigued by Keira's new attitude. He added on, "When did you become naughty?"

"I learned from the best, right?" Keira cleverly replied to him. They both chuckled, and Jak picked up his wife and carried her from the main hangar bay all the way to the top floor of the living quarters. They smooched, and the door shut behind them.

The next morning approached and everyone quickly freshened up and got dressed in their usual attire. They met Ratchet and Clank down in the main hangar bay, with a very uneasy expression drawn upon Ratchet's face. He was scratching his head nervously.

"Hey Ratch," Jak started, "What's going on here?"

"We got big problems guys," Ratchet began to break it to everyone, "When the Imperials were trying to shoot us down when we escaped from Eco, one of them shot us with this tracking device, and its been on the Renegade the whole flight here." Ratchet opened up his paw and showed everyone the tracking device. It was a small, round piece of metal with a dim red beacon. Everyone became anxious.

"Luckily, I was able to dismantle the tracking device and shut it down," Clank added, "but their persistent threat against us is still present. I believe that the Empire has retrieved enough coordinates from the ship and our pathway to this location to track us down. According to my sensors, I believe that they are on their way here to Raxus Prime right now!"

"Great," Ashelin softly pouted, "just what I needed. A bunch of imperial goons destroying us before we even get started."

"That's not even fair!" Jinx suddenly whined.

"Relax everyone!" Ratchet yelled to calm everyone down. Then he calmly spoke to everyone, "I've already ordered immediate evacuation for my troops, weapons, and ships from here to another underground fortress on Yavin IV. But Clank's right. The Empire already has enough data to track down the Renegade. But thankfully I have a duplicate of it just in case something like this happens."

"So what's your point?" Torn inquired.

"My point is," Ratchet continued, "the only way to ensure survival and safety is for us to split up into two different groups." All of the sudden, everyone interjected in a displeased manner, and collectively argued against him. "Hold on! Let me finish!" Ratchet yelled, silencing everyone once again, "Think about it! Two ships that look EXACTLY alike flying in two opposite directions will confuse the Empire enough. I mean yeah, there will be Imperials following us around anyway, but we knew we were going to have to deal with them one way or another if this galaxy has any chance of being saved."

"Which gives me and idea…"Samos spoke softly to himself.

"Oh, great!" Daxter exaggerated to himself. "What does old green and gruesome have planned for us in his infinite log of wisdom?"

Samos walked in the center of the circle, speaking to everyone, "Well, since we're splitting up into two groups, and since Vader is 'persuading' fallen Jedi Knights to follow him, I figured that it's time to multiply our army before he multiplies his. That's why I am taking Sig, Torn, Ashelin, and Jinx under my guidance, and I will train them to become Jedi Knights on Tython, the planet where the Jedi order began tens and thousands of years ago."

"WHAT!? ARE YOU INSANE OLD MAN!?" Torn retorted in disgust. "WE CAN'T TRAIN TO BE JEDI! IT'S RIDICULOUS!"

"We don't have the natural gifts Jak and Keira have!" Ashelin harshly followed, "You can't expect us to master the Jedi arts as quickly as they did. This effort is hopeless!"

"Besides," Jinx chimed in, "We like who we are! We like blowin' stuff up outta da sky! If we can explode a bunch of metalhead creeps, we can beat these goons by just shootin' them down!"

"We tried 'shootin these goons down' and 'blowin' stuff up outta da sky' and look where that put us?" Samos mocked the arrogant weapons expert. Jinx was not very pleased with his words. Samos continued, "Yes, I know that it will be more difficult to train you four than it was to train Jak and Keira. The old Jedi Masters claimed that it was impossible to train someone that wasn't Force-Sensitive. But I'm different. I'm a Green Eco Sage that knows a thing or two about doing the impossible, and I say that I can train you four just well enough to combat with Vader's forces. The Dark Side is a part of the Empire so this is the only chance we have!"

"The Tree Stump's right," Sig nodded in agreement, "this will test our patience with one another, but it's the only chance we have. There will probably be Imperial scumbags lurking around that planet anyway, so it's like killing two birds with one stone: We do our training while taking out a bunch of Imperial creeps and collecting information we need to unlock the Empire's secrets!"

"Brilliant idea, Sig!" Samos commended him in approval.

"HEY!" Daxter suddenly shouted with impatience, "What about us!?

"Well furball," the sage began to mock the ottsel once more, "since you're one of the few sidekicks along for the ride, I'm gonna tell our two heroes of the galaxy, and you're gonna listen!" Daxter too, became disgusted with the old man. He turned to Jak and Keira, and began to instruct them on their next task. "Now Jak, Keira," he began, "Since you two are almost done with your formal Jedi training, I know I can't coddle you two as my students forever, that's why I feel that you two are ready to venture off into your own to discover your destiny. This is a crucial part of the process. I need you two to take the Renegade, and fly on over to the galaxy's capitol planet of Coruscant, where you will find the remains of the Jedi Temple."

"And what will we do there?" Jak asked him.

"You must go there to meditate." Samos replied.

"Wow! Have you really gone senile!" Daxter began to go off. Samos became angry with him, but nevertheless, the boisterous and pompous ottsel continued, "Look old man! You're sending the two lovebirds to this 'Jedi Temple' so that they can use it as a room, fall asleep for the Precursors knows how long, while a bunch of Imperial creeps are ransacking the planet like a pack of angry hounds! Then the next thing you know, Mr. Dark, tall, and stormy is gonna control each and every living thing on every planet with chains on their backs!? Sheesh! This plan wasn't really well thought out after all! Next thing you know they wake up and-"

"SILENCE YOU IGNORANT WEASEL!" Samos angrily bellowed at the small rat. He picked him up and jettisoned him through the door of the Renegade, knocking him out and shutting him up.

"What a moron!" Jinx and Torn quietly said together.

"Anyway," Samos continued to Jak and Keira, "This part of your training is the most crucial component because you'll be talking to beings of the dead, powerful Jedi Knights that appeared in the past. If you have a connection with the dead through the living Force, your power will soon become stronger within you, and I want you two to become as well-rounded with the Force as you can before you can face Vader and the Emperor once more!"

"Sounds simple enough," Keira said to her father with confidence. But then she remembered, "Wait a minute! We can't go back there to the Jedi Temple! That Obi-Wan guy told us not to in his message because it was destroyed, remember?"

"Well now I'm telling you different," Samos assured her, "Yes, danger will continue to lurk around the Jedi Temple because that was the first place the Empire attacked. I bet there will still be Imperial troops left there lurking around. But regardless, you must go inside the Temple to meditate! It is the only place you two have left to connect with the heroes of the past! If you each go to the Jedi Temple, and meditate in solitude, you will discover who you really are, where you truly came from, what your purpose is in life, and you will discover your TRUE destiny! That is the key to saving this galaxy!"

"How will we know who we will be talking to?" Jak inquired the sage, "How will we know what we truly find in ourselves?"

"All part of the training Jak," Samos answered. He continued, "Remember, when you get there, search your feelings within you. Look into your souls and empty your minds of any distractions. The people within your heart will give you the answers that you seek."

"I'll take them on the renegade," Ratchet offered them, "you need a REAL pro that knows the ins and outs of this baby in order for you to get to where you need to go."

"Please," Keira began to reply to the lombax with sass, "Jak and I are plenty capable of flying a ship ourselves."

"Please," Ratchet retorted back, "I insist."

"All right," Keira began to give up on the argument, "Whatever's best for the ship."

"Ashelin and I will fly the other one," Torn chimed in, "We can fly pretty well too."

"Master Chief," A Halo soldier began to pull Ratchet aside, tapping him on the shoulder, "shall we start the evacuation process to Yavin IV?"

"Yeah, you guys go ahead," Ratchet said in approval. "I can't follow you guys, I got to look after the only two chances we have left in saving the galaxy. If we lose them, all hope will be lost."

"Yes, Master Chief," the soldier affirmed and walked away.

"You're not going with them to Yavin IV?" Jak asked his comrade.

"Nah," Ratchet answered him, "They got plenty of commanders on standby there already. They're in good hands. Besides, it looks like you guys are in need of a babysitter already."

"Yeah, sure we do." Jak replied sarcastically.

Sig approached Jak and gave him confident parting words; "Listen Cherry, keep your head up, your eyes peeled, and your nose sniffin'. Be on the lookout for anything that can harm you guys. If you do that, everything will be gravy. All of it, just gravy! We can't afford to lose any of you. You've led us through the hairiest of the hairy, and I know you can help save millions of people. You got this Jak!"

"Thanks Sig," Jak replied in gratitude, patting him on the shoulder, "Be on the lookout for yourself too. And, have some patience with the old man, he gets groggy often as you've seen before, but don't piss him off too much."

"We'll swap with each other any Intel we can find on the Empire's secrets." Ashelin declared, "The more we know, the more we expose them their weaknesses."

"Time is of the essence!" Samos interjected, "Let's get moving! We got a galaxy to save!" The groups boarded their respective ships. Jak and Keira were the last ones walking into the Renegade, holding hands when Samos called out to them; "Jak! Keira!" They both turned around, and looked at the sage. Samos told them, "May the Force be with you both."

"May the Force be with you, daddy!" Keira replied to him.

Jak followed, "Yeah, may the Force be with you too Samos, and everyone with you."

The two ships departed in opposite directions and flew out of orbit on both ends of Raxus Prime. The crew on the reengage began to prepare for their voyage to Coruscant." Inside the cockpit, Ratchet typed in the coordinates set for the planet, while Clank activated the hyperdrive.

"We're on the outer rim, while Coruscant is one of the core worlds," Ratchet declared to Jak, Daxter, Keira, and Tess, "which means this is gonna be a long and bumpy ride. Hang on everyone!"

Ratchet pulled the lever down to charge the hyperdrive and to send the Renegade into light speed. The Renegade took off into hyperspace, embarking the long voyage to the fallen capitol of Coruscant.


	9. Chapter 9: Coruscant

Chapter 9: Coruscant

Deep in hyperspace on board of the Renegade, Jak, Keira, Daxter, and Tess were sound asleep in the seats behind the cockpit. Jak was moving around uncomfortably, as usual, while Keira was doing the same. They both were having nightmares. They both suddenly woke up from them, and then turned to each other.

"The nightmares are bothering you again aren't they?" Keira asked her husband.

"Yeah," Jak replied, "But…this one's different. This one was unlike any of the other ones I had."

"What did you see?" Keira wondered. Since she had nightmares too, she was even more curious to see if Jak saw the same thing.

Jak began his thorough description; "I saw my father, he was holding me when I was a baby. He was arguing with this woman who held another baby. I think Damas tried to get rid of her and the other child because he said it was 'good for the city,' or something like that. Anyway, the woman broke down crying, and she ran off with the other baby, leaving Damas and I alone in the palace. Funny," Jak began to drift off and ponder, "Once I figured out who my real father was, I always wondered who and where my real mother would be."

"Strange…"Keira began to ponder too, "I was having the same thing almost! I saw a woman who looked just like me, screaming and crying of agonizing pain. Then, I saw my father stand in front of some court. Some old guy was being the judge, and he charged him with breaking the Jedi Code twice! Anyway, the woman gave birth to a child, and then she died shortly thereafter. It was quite terrifying to say the least."

"This is nuts," Jak became uneasy. But the more he thought about it, the more he was starting to put things together. "Maybe," Jak began whimsically, "our mothers are the people we need to talk to when we meditate!"

"Yeah!" Keira exclaimed in agreement, "Maybe they hold the key to our destiny!"

"Your guess is as good as mine, honey." Jak concurred. Suddenly, Ratchet turned around in his seat and looked at the exhausted travellers slumping in their seats. That woke Tess up in a hurry as she jumped and squealed out of surprise. Keira was able to calm her down, while Jak was trying to nudge Daxter in the seat on his right to wake him up.

"Good morning passengers!" Ratchet announced with bravado. "Time to wake up! We're closing in on Coruscant fast, so drink your coffee and spice yourselves up, because the adventure is about to begin!"

Ratchet took the Renegade out of light speed, and in front of them was this dark planet with red and orange patterns on it. There was a little white crescent showing on the far side of the planet, and that was the area where Ratchet took the ship. The whole planet was surrounded by and Imperial blockade riddled with small Star Destroyers and TIE fighters.

"Coruscant," Clank began to formally introduce the planet to everyone, "capitol of our galaxy, Home of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order, before both were sacked by the uprisings of the Empire. It's safe to say that this planet has definitely had its better days before." As the Renegade drew closer and closer into the planet's orbit, Daxter slowly woke up. It was evident to everyone else on the ship that he was in a groggy, crabby mood.

Daxter began to whine, "Ugh! Why did I agree to go on this CRAZY ADVENTURE with you guys!? 'Use the Force, fling a wimp stick around, stop the Empire, save the universe!' I WANNA GO HOME!"

"Daxter!" Keira harshly barked at the ottsel, "In case you haven't noticed, we don't have a home anymore!"

"Believe me Dax," Jak chimed in speaking in a calmer tone, "None of us here like this situation any better than you do, but we might as well make the best of it. Besides, who else would be better to put the Empire in their place than us?"

"That's the spirit!" Ratchet yelped in encouragement.

"But I still don't get it!" Daxter continued, "Why does old green stuff have you go through all of this voodoo crap, when we can just take the Empire head-on just like we did with everyone else!"

"Because that's not the way this plan works." Jak answered. "This Empire is full of darkness, Dax. We'll need all the source of power we can get, you know that!"

"Sheesh, Jak," Daxter complained even more, "You've always had a way with words, especially when it comes to not giving me the complete answers to all the questions I ask! Why is that?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Jak asked him sternly. Daxter slumped in his seat with his arms folded and a pouty expression drawn on his face. Tess scurried over to the cockpit, and tapped Ratchet on the shoulder.

"Uh…Ratchet," Tess began to ask, "I couldn't help but notice the Imperial blockade orbiting the planet, and you bypassed them without asking us for landing permission, or them shooting us down. Why is that?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Ratchet started to answer the female ottsel, "I installed a cloaking device on both ships before we left. It makes this old girl invisible every time we come into orbit with a planet." He then finished mischievously "No one will ever know…"

"Wow!" Tess yelped in wonder, "Ingenious!"

"Indeed." Clank added in agreement. As the Renegade hit the atmosphere of Coruscant, Keira looked to the side, and her eyes beamed with wonder and her jaw dropped in amazement. She gasped as she looked down on the high concentration of population and diversity on the streets. She was mesmerized.

"This is amazing!" Keira shouted. "There's so much to do and so much to see here! This place looks a lot better than home on it's best day! Who wouldn't want to live here?"

"Don't be fooled, Keira," Clank interjected with caution, "The people of Coruscant were happy to live here once before, but not now unfortunately. Since the Republic was reorganized into the Galactic Empire here, this place has been plagued by nothing but totalitarianism and oppression from Imperial forces. It's that way for other planets across the galaxy, but since that this is the galaxy's capitol, the oppression is most abundant here."

Keira grew suspicious of Clank's knowledge of this planet. She said to the robot, "You seem to know a lot about this planet. Have you been here before?"

"What? No!" Clank exclaimed nervously, "I've conducted some extensive research on this planet right when we departed from Raxus Prime. It was quite tedious looking at the statistics, the footage, the demographics-"

"He knows all before anyone else does Keira," Ratchet interjected, "trust me."

"Yeah, I'll trust you boys to it then." Keira scoffed at them.

Tess suddenly spoke to everyone, "Is that the Jedi Temple?" This prompted Jak to pull out a drawing of the Temple that Samos gave him before they departed from Raxus prime. He walked up to the cockpit, and matched the picture with the obscure structure.

"I'm afraid it is," Jak coldly answered. He was right. The great Jedi Temple that they were searching for was right in front of them, and it appeared to be nearly destroyed. There were holes on the rooftops and fire was burning out of each hole. Four towers fell out of their place but only one remained standing; the great tower that stood at the center of the Jedi Temple. They noticed that there were tens and thousands of Imperial Storm Troopers marching around the perimeter of the temple, and the front door was sealed off by the one of the towers that fell.

"We're gonna have to land far away from here so that we don't get stormed immediately," Ratchet figured, "we'll have to make a quiet approach to sneak through the alleys, and then make the best attack we can. There are thousands of them, but we have no other choice."

"Let's storm in there and go like hell." Jak declared with confidence, "We can take it to 'em! We've done it before!"

They landed the renegade in a dark alley far from the Temple, and all exited quietly. Jak and Daxter were the last to depart from the ship.

"Dax, wait a moment," he spoke to the ottsel. He continued with his words of encouragement; "Look, I know this isn't the way we would normally do things but it's the only way we have to do it. This Empire is unlike anything that we've ever dealt with before. They're darker, more dangerous, and they're relentless. We need the Force on our side for this. If we keep doing the same thing all the time, we'll end up dead and the whole galaxy will end up lost, so we got to switch things up a bit. The enemies we face may change, but one thing will always remain the same; we'll always be kicking ass together. What do you say pal? Demolition Duo?"

Daxter thought for a few moments, and then came to reasoning. He turned to his best friend and told him, "Demolition Duo forever, pal!"

"All right!" Jak cheered as Daxter perched on top of Jak's left shoulder as usual. "Let's go kick some Imperial ass!" The three pairs of hero-sidekicks then marched to the Jedi Temple. They looked at the massive Imperial forces patrolling on the steps, and then they all looked up at the Temple in awe.

"It looks even bigger when you're on the ground!" Keira exclaimed.

"You there!" A storm trooper called out to them. "This is a restricted area. You must leave or face penalties for trespassing."

"I believe I'll take my chances," Jak sneered at him. He took his light saber and drew it through the storm trooper's chest. Keira drew her weapon and Ratchet took out his ion cannon. Jak turned to Daxter and asked him, "Now, are you ready to make some noise, Dax?"

"OH YEAH!" Daxter called out, "Lets beat some Imperial hiney!"

The six heroes charged at the Imperial army. Sheets of blasts and explosions from the storm troopers attempted to bombard them, but they were not fazed by any of the opposing attacks. Relentlessly, they pushed on. Ratchet led the charge by shooting down as many storm troopers as he could with his ion cannon, while Jak and Keira wielded their light sabers to block shots from heavy Imperial artillery, and they sliced, diced, and stabbed thousands of troopers. The battle was a long struggle that lasted for hours, but in the end, the six heroes made it to the top of the steps alive. One problem: the fallen tower was still blocking the entrance to the Temple.

"Oh great!" Ratchet exaggerated with agitation, "how are we gonna move this thing?"

"Ahem," Jak stepped up and cleared his throat, "Allow US to move it out of the way." He then turned to his wife and called to her, "Keira. Help me move this giant hunk of stone."

"Certainly, big guy!" Keira followed. She and Jak withdrew their weapons for the moment and closed their eyes and concentrated on the fallen apparatus. They put their hands out in front of them, trying to move the fallen tower out of the way. Moments later, it budged, and then it levitated off the ground. Daxter, Tess, Ratchet, and Clank gazed in amazement, watching in total disbelief that Jak and Keira could levitate the fallen structure off the ground by themselves.

"Look out!" Tess suddenly yelled. She was the first to see a bounty hunter with jetpack shoes flying towards them. Ratchet aimed his cannon at him, but missed, and hit the tower instead. The levitating tower exploded into shards of stone, and everyone ducked to dodge the debris. When they rose, they saw the bounty hunter stand in the doorway. He had blue skin, red eyes, and was dressed in a cowboy outfit, wearing a brown overcoat and a large hat. He had a breathing device surround his cheeks. He grinned at Jak and Keira.

"Well, well, well," the bounty hunter started in his distorted voice, "look what we have here, two Jedi for my taking."

"Now just who the heck are you?" Daxter cried in outburst.

"Don't you two dumb Jedi know who I am?" The bounty hunter asked. All six of them stood perplexed looking at each other. They obviously have never seen him before. Regardless, the bounty hunter introduced himself anyway, "I am Cad Bane, the most notorious Jedi bounty hunter in the galaxy! I knew someday that a few hopeless Jedi would be dumb enough to go back here and save their precious Jedi Temple. Both of your heads will be worth a lot of credits so…I'll be taking you both back to Jabba now."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Ratchet boisterously barged through and immediately opened fire at the bounty hunter. Cad Bane was able to dodge all of Ratchet's shots and bought himself enough time to draw his pistols. He shot at Jak and Keira repeatedly, but they drew their light sabers just in time for them to block his shots. Jak charged at him and swung towards his head, but missed. That allowed Bane to elbow him in the back of the neck, knocking him down temporarily. Keira tried to attack but was halted when Bane shot his flamethrower towards her. Jak saw this, and kicked Cad Bane in the back of the knee, knocking him down. Jak stood up, drawing his light saber towards his head, and ready to strike him down. But Bane grabbed his arm and delivered an electrical shock through his body, neutralizing him. Bane threw him to the ground, and proceeded to shoot at Keira and Ratchet.

Keira protected the lombax by blocking all of Cad Bane's shots. She blocked all except for one that grazed her shoulder, causing her to fall down. Ratchet took over and took a semi-automatic blaster. Shooting at the bounty hunter. He had minimal success. Jak all of the sudden saw his wife laid on the ground writhing in pain. He immediately rushed to her. Daxter followed.

"Are you all right?" Jak asked her, picking her up on her own feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Keira replied to him as she healed herself with green eco. She continued to him, "That bounty hunter is no joke."

"I'll show him 'no joke!'" Jak cried with anger. He suddenly transformed into a different figure. Everything from head to toe (including his clothes) had turned into a bright shade of blue, his eyes turned white, and he grew eight wings on his back. Jak transformed into his light eco form, and stared Cad Bane down. His enemy turned away from Ratchet, and faced Jak.

"There's the hero I married!" Keira shrieked in excitement.

"My oh my," Cad Bane gazed in wonder, "You are a truly interesting specimen of Jedi. That just makes your head worth that much more! No I'll REALLY get paid!" Bane shot his pistols at Jak, but his shots were deflected off of Jak's right palm. Jak then levitated the bounty hunter, and created a ball of light eco with his hands. He threw the ball at Cad Bane, tossing him against the arch of the doorway. He plummeted back down to the ground with a hard impact. As he struggled to get up and grab his hat, he snarled, "See if you can catch me you freak!" He turned on his Jetpack shoes, and flew upwards towards the sky.

"I'll go deal with our sharp shooting friend from the sky," Jak said to his wife and comrades as he drew his light saber, "While the rest of you go into the Temple and shoot down more Imperials."

"Right! On it!" Keira affirmed as she watched her husband flap his wings and flew off into the air with Daxter grabbing his shoulder.

"Well what are you waiting for!?" Ratchet yelled at Keira, Tess, and Clank, commanding them to storm the temple, "Let's take this temple!" Ratchet then screamed as he ran off into the temple firing his gun.

"Ratchet! Wait up!" Keira yelled back. Before she could chase him down, she saw Ratchet fly through the air right in front of her. He was screaming in agonizing pain as he was covered in violent shots of force lightning. Keira, Clank, and Tess ducked to avoid him, as Ratchet was sent bouncing and tumbling down the steps of the Jedi Temple. Keira stood up and looked forward, while Tess ran up and perched on her shoulder. The next thing they saw was a black-cloaked figure drawing two red light sabers. Tess and Clank gulped, while Keira looked at the figure with defiance, and walked towards it with her light saber drawn and in hand.


	10. Chapter 10: Keira's First Duel

Chapter 10: Keira's First Duel

The black-cloaked figure with two red light sabers drawn softly and sinisterly spoke to Keira as she approached it; "Come, young Jedi. Your fall will bring me one step closer to my redemption!" Then, the acolyte dropped her cloak. She was tall, emaciated, and had pale white skin with no hair whatsoever. From the shoulders down to her forearms, she was wrapped in linen cloth, and from the waist down she was wearing a black blouse with intricate silver patterns. She had devil-like sapphire eyes that gleamed like a cat towards Keira's stern countenance.

"You must be one of Darth Vader's assasins!" Keira sneered at her enemy.

"I serve on no one's side, only my own." The Dark Jedi hissed. "I am not even aware of this, 'Darth Vader,' of whom you speak of. The Sith betrayed me in my moment of need…twice! Now, because of them, my rage has been fueled just enough to give me the motivation to overthrow the Empire they created! However…I always enjoy killing weak Jedi."

An angered Keira retorted, "I'll show you weak!" as she pointed her blade at her opponent.

The Dark Jedi chuckled evilly and replied, "You Jedi are so naive, so gallant, yet so pointless. Can't you see? Your order has been obstructed and overrun! You're cause: hardly worth anything anymore. So give up, retract your blade, and walk away with your life spared."

"I don't take orders from a hairless, wretched witch!" Keira yelled at her with vehement anger.

The Dark Jedi grew furious at her opponent. Her eyes were peeled, but they gleamed with rage. She softly snarled to her, "Then you shall meet your fate under my blade, Jedi!"

As Tess swallowed her throat in fear as she was perched on Keira's shoulder, The Dark Jedi struck her two red light sabers towards Keira's one purple one. She released, and then continued to swing at Keira's saber violently before Keira jumped over her. Based on the timid expression on her face and her arms shaking with fear as she held her weapon with a tight grip, Keira was overwhelmed by the sheer power, skill, and flexibility her opponent had. The assassin charged after her, swinging her swords left and right in all directions, driving her back further and further into the grand corridor. Keira blocked all of her strikes, but was eventually kicked in the chest by her adversary and she flew all the way into Jedi library.

Interestingly enough, the entrance to the Jedi Temple actually led into the third floor, instead of the first. What was even more interesting was that the Imperial troopers were opening fire at the Dark Jedi that she faced instead of her. As Keira got up, she would also become bombarded with blasts from the storm troopers. Although she blocked the shots with her light saber, she was driven back until she was standing back to back with the opponent that faced her, with a horde of Imperial troopers surrounding them at gunpoint.

Meanwhile, outside of the Temple, Jak in his light eco form was flying around and trying to chase down the notorious bounty hunter, Cad Bane. They flew around the central tower of the Temple trying to shoot each other down. Bane unleashed his pistols and opened fire towards Jak. Jak was able to block them with his light saber, so Bane turned to fly upwards towards the top of the tower. Bane used his flamethrower in an effort to burn Jak's wings off, plummeting him down a long fall ending with a hard impact on the stone edifice's roof. However, Jak was able to dodge these bursts of flame, and proceeded to dismantle Bane's jet shoes with a burst of light eco. The bounty hunter then stood clinging to the top of the tower where Jak met him with his light saber drawn.

At this point, Jak had Cad Bane right where he wanted him. Bane was struggling to gain footing on the steep tip of the tower while Jak was able to manage. Just as Jak was about to strike the bounty hunter down, Bane drew one of his pistols quickly and shot Jak in the wrist that was holding his weapon. This caused Jak to drop his sword, and Bane chased it down as it fell by using a grapple cable to latch on to the ledge and to swing downward to catch it before it fell and broke. As Bane drew Jak's light saber as he stood on top of the rooftop, Jak stared him down with the eyes of a hawk.

"He's got your laser sword, Jak!" Daxter frantically exclaimed, "What are we going to do now!?" Without any further word, Jak jumped from the top of the tower and swooped down towards the direction of Cad Bane. This caused Daxter to grow even more anxious. He yelled as they flew, "Wait, you're gonna fly down there? With no weapons in hand!? Oh great! Not only is this guy gonna be rich, he's gonna have sliced ottsel as his main course tonight!"

"We'll see who has the upper hand this time, Jedi." Cad Bane sneered quietly to himself. As Bane lifted the sword to strike Jak down, Jak was able to use his right hand to clench Bane's wrist, thus neutralizing him with light eco. Bane screamed of agonizing pain as the eco was disrupting his blood flow. Jak then landed on his own two feet and reached Bane over the ledge of the rooftop. The pain that Cad Bane suffered was so excruciating that it caused him to drop Jak's light saber. Jak then retrieved it with his left hand as it retracted.

"Now," Jak started, "are you gonna leave us alone?"

"JUST KILL ME! PLEASE!" Bane shrieked of agony as his breathing apparatus was malfunctioning, "DO YOUR WORST, I BEG OF YOU! YOU'VE BEATEN ME FAIR AND SQUARE! I DON'T WANT THIS LIFE ANYMORE!"

"There must be a better answer than this!" Jak demanded, "I didn't come here to kill you, specifically. I just came here to search for my true destiny. Honestly, I had no idea who you were until you attacked us! Just leave us alone, and I'll spare you."

"I already am at peace as the shadows of death consume me," Bane's voice weakened as he began to expire. He spoke softly to Jak for the final time, "You win, Jedi." Jak then dropped Bane as he fell onto the hard concrete in front of the entrance of the Jedi Temple. Ratchet was racing his way back upwards as Bane's body landed in front of him. Jak saw Ratchet and swooped down from the rooftop to meet him on top of the steps. As he landed, he changed back into his normal form.

Daxter then proceeded to chide at his sidekick, "Next time you use your eco powers when you use the Force and your laser sword and all that crap; DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN! I'm pretty sure I lost at least half of my fur you scared me so much!"

"All right! You got him!" Ratchet exclaimed excitedly as he looked at Cad Bane's disfigured corpse.

"Yeah, I did," Jak softly affirmed, but then switched the subject around, "Where's Keira?"

"She's in there, but I think she's in trouble!" Ratchet told him.

"Well what the hell are we standing around here for!? Come on!" Jak commanded urgently. Just like that, they rushed through the corridor of the Jedi Temple to find and aid Keira, who was still surrounded by an army of storm troopers that were aiming their weapons at her. Interestingly enough, the adversary that she crossed blades with is also held at gunpoint with her.

"You are both enemies of the Empire for trespassing in a restricted area and causing obstruction within the Empire's property," a storm trooper stated. Then he commanded, "Surrender and die!"

They both retracted their swords and closed their eyes. The Imperial troopers drew closer to them, ready to apprehend them. Then all of the sudden, Keira and the acolyte unleashed a massive ring of Force energy that ejected all of the storm troopers hundreds of feet around them, knocking them out. They still stood back to back, hiding feelings of ire for a few moments.

"Thanks for saving my skin." The Dark Jedi hissed at Keira. All of the sudden, Keira drew out her weapon and pivoted toward her right to strike at her opponent, but the acolyte drew her left sword in just enough time for it to make contact with Keira's strike. The two swords held together for a few seconds.

"I wasn't planning on it!" She sneered as she held her sword against her opponent's. In response, the acolyte kicked Keira in the stomach, causing her to lurch forward. Then she proceeded to kick Keira in the back of the knees, knocking her face down on the ground. She then dragged Keira by the hair and tossed her over the ledge, sending her down on a long, painful fall to the first floor of the Temple, where the Jedi Archives were located. Soon, another army of storm troopers aimed their blasters at the helpless Jedi Knight.

"Let's leave our sharp shooting 'friends' out of this," She declared to the troopers using a Jedi mind trick, "and finish this fight ourselves. Whoever is the last one standing will deal with them." The storm troopers stood down their weapons, and looked up towards the Dark Jedi.

Keira got herself up and wiped the blood away from the side of her lip. Then she ignited her light saber and defiantly replied to her, "I'll take my chances either way. Let's finish this, baldy!" The Dark Jedi growled, and leapt from the third floor all the way down to the first floor to face Keira, igniting both of her swords. The duel resumed. The acolyte spun and twisted around as she flung her light sabers towards Keira. Not only was Keira blocking some strikes, but she was also able to use flips, somersaults, and cartwheels all over the place to avoid the strikes heading towards her. The acolyte chased her down with a few acrobatic moves of her own, using the walls and the shelves of the Jedi Archives to her leverage.

While those two continued their duel with each other, Jak, Daxter, Ratchet, and Clank all rushed into the third floor of the temple, where they witnessed the aftermath of the storm trooper massacre that Keira and her adversary ignited. They noticed the unresponsive bodies of the fallen Imperial troopers, but Keira was nowhere in sight.

"Where is she?" Jak asked Ratchet, who responded to him by pointing down towards the first floor. All they could see were two faint read beams striking at a faint purple one. Jak knew Keira was in trouble and spoke with urgency, "We have to help her! She's in trouble!"

"We!?" Ratchet replied to him, "What do you mean, 'We'!? You're the one that's married to her!"

"Good point," Jak assured himself as Daxter hit him in the back of the head.

"Clank and I will take care of these Imperial crud-buckets," Ratchet started to him, "While you two help out Keira and Tess with that…whatever that bald thing is."

"Sounds like a plan!" Jak affirmed, "I'll see you both down there."

While Ratchet and Clank flew off the ledge and started to throw bombs at the Imperial Troopers that shot at them from below, Jak jumped down onto the first floor approximately ten feet away from his wife's duel with the female Dark Acolyte. Keira and her opponent heard Jak ignite his light saber, and they both interrupted their duel to look at him.

"Jak," Keira began to speak towards her husband with an agitated tone, "What are you doing here? You should be helping Ratchet. I got this covered." Just like that, Keira was hit with a short shock of Force lightning that came from her fellow duelist, as she was forced approximately thirty feet in the air by the shock and made a hard impact onto the ground. "Cheap shot…"She spoke to herself in a raspy voice as she struggled to get up. She looked at her enemy facing her husband.

"My oh my," The Dark Jedi started in a harsh, yet sarcastic tone, "Another Jedi to the rescue. He swooped in the nick of time to save his companion, because both of them are driven by the bonds of love!" She continued with a sinisterly glee laughter and then finished darkly, "How utterly pathetic."

Just after she said this, she unleashed a longer shock of Force lightning towards Jak, but this time she was not able to bring Jak down. Instead, Jak captured the lightning with his right hand and was able to convert it into a round, head-sized orb of light eco. Daxter, Tess, and Keria looked on with amazement as they saw Jak stop Force lightning with his bare hands. Jak then blasted that source of light eco towards the Dark Acolyte, ejecting her from the ground and sending her flying into the bookshelves of the Jedi Archives, which then fell on top of her.

After Keira marveled at Jak using the abilities he most recently discovered, she became angry with her husband again. "Jak!" She began to yell at him, "I had her right where I wanted her until you came along!"

"Well obviously you didn't," Jak replied with a smart remark, "She was driving you back and then she hit you with Force lightning. If I didn't swoop in you would've probably been dead."

Keira became infuriated with Jak with that instant remark. She looked up towards the third floor where Ratchet and Clank were, and then looked to the side as the Dark Acolyte broke out of the wrecked debris and drew her light sabers again. She turned to Jak and told him, "Look, Ratchet is nearly helpless fighting off those Imperial Troopers! He needs more assistance than I do. Trust me, I can handle myself fine. So go help him, now!"

Jak quickly replied, "But, Keira-"

"NOW!" She yelled back at him with demand.

"ALRIGHT! Sheesh…"an annoyed Jak affirmed as he ran off towards the struggling Ratchet. As he was running, he turned to Daxter and told him, "…the one time I try to help my wife in her most desperate time of need, and I get yelled at for doing so."

"That's why I don't want to get married," Daxter replied to him.

With Daxter clinging and swinging around his shoulder, Jak used his light saber to maneuver the oncoming charge from a group of storm troopers. After he struck all of them down with his weapon, he leapt from the first to the third floor to aid Ratchet and Clank, blocking blasts into more storm troopers in the process. He rushed to aid his friends who were struggling to get past a blockade of Imperial troopers.

"I thought you wanted to help Keira!" Ratchet said to him as he was firing his two plasma pistols at the blockade.

"I did!" Jak replied as he deflected blasts from storm troopers with is sword, "But then she kinda got mad at me when I tried to. Not sure why, but she told me to come help you!"

"Well, it's her funeral," Ratchet continued to him, "We got Imperial troopers crawling all over the place! They're blocking out the entrance to the elevator for the center tower!"

"Of course they are," Jak affirmed, "But we'll have to keep pushing forward. We can take 'em! Come on!"

Soon, Clank would transform into a new defense system with blasters that Keira designed for him, and Daxter would transform into his dark form. Led by Ratchet with his arsenal of weapons and Jak with his sword guided by the Force, the four of them knocked all of the storm troopers on their backs and made their work towards the elevator to the center tower of the Jedi Temple.

While they managed to push forward, Keira struggled in her duel and was only going backwards. The Dark Jedi that she was fighting was striking towards her with more vigor, and Keira could not come up with a decisive counterattack. Her opponent swung, spun, jumped, swept, and struck towards her, causing Tess to fall off her shoulder. Every time Keira crossed her blade with one of her opponent's light sabers, she struck at her with the other one, causing her to duck, dive, roll, scurry, and hide throughout several areas of the floor.

Keira's female ottsel companion could only sit and watch hopelessly. As she watched her friend struggle to fend off the Dark Jedi, her optimism for Keira winning this fight grew dim. That fatalistic thought was quickly replaced with suspicion, as she heard someone leaping across the Jedi Library. She then saw a dark shadow along the walls, and quickly ran off to follow it.

Keira and the enemy that stood in front of her struck at each other's blades until Keira was able to knock her opponent off her footing and on her back. The Dark Jedi crossed her blades to block and hold Keira's powerful chop, and the two gritted their teeth and squinted their eyes with fierce strength driven from rage. The Acolyte eventually pushed Keira off of her, ejecting her into several feet in air and knocking her on her back approximately fifty yards from her original position. As she made a hard impact with the ground, she dropped her light saber. The Dark Jedi leapt towards the defenseless Keira and twirled her red blades until she pointed them down towards Keira. Then all of the sudden, the process of her dispatching her fallen opponent was interrupted by an orange figure that leapt out of the air and knocked her down.

Keira then sat up, disoriented, and perplexed at what she saw in her blurred vision. She saw her enemy knocked down by someone with a very peculiar figure; She had orange skin and was wearing white pants with maroon-colored boots, short skirt, and top. She also had leather forearm guards and drew a green light saber in reversed grip. She looked a couple years younger than Keira, though not that far off from her. What made Keira even more curious was the blue and white headdress she wore and the small, intricate white patterns on her orange face. She had big, bright blue eyes that stared her opponent down with anger. She was human-like, but different.


	11. Chapter 11: A New Friend

Chapter 11: A New Friend

"Ventress!" The female warrior suddenly yelled down to the fallen Dark Jedi, "I knew you haven't changed a bit! I could sense that you lied to me about the 'new you' the last time we met!" Ventress then sprung up and drew her light sabers once more, and spun around while striking her blades with her new opponent.

As they held their blades together, Ventress sprung up and continued, "I was hoping that I would never see your filthy face ever again you worthless Padawan pest! There is no hope for you now, young one. Have you come back here in search of your precious Master Skywalker to help you find you're way again? Well you're too late for that, because he's dead, just like the rest of the Jedi that served in the pathetic Order!"

"You did this…" She growled in reply.

Ventress chuckled and then declared to her, "I had no part in participating in the façade that caused the debacle of the Jedi, but if the shoe fits, I will be more than happy to wear it!"

The young Jedi charged at her enemy, swinging and striking at the Dark Acolyte's two light sabers with vigor, then used an acrobatic kick to knock one of her opponent's blades out of her left hand. Then, it was Ventress' turn on the offensive, as she struck her enemy with rage. They chased each other around the library, flipping and leaping off walls, counters, shelves and ledges, while striking their blades at each other. Tess tended to the wounded Keira, who watched the new Jedi move with wonder.

Finally, Ventress was able to knock the young Jedi down by elbowing her mid-air. This caused the Jedi Knight to lose her light saber as she fell hard on to the ground. Ventress recovered the weapon that she lost, and ignited it. She crossed them together as she levitated her enemy with Force choke. She held her blades together and surrounded the tips parallel to her enemy's neck. She was ready to decapitate her.

"At last, I have waited for this moment for a long time…" Ventress declared to the choking Jedi with pride and euphoria, "You have pestered the Force ever since we made contact with each other. I have loathed and detested the Jedi in general, but out of all of them, you were the most despicable! I tricked you with my kindness and my 'reinvention' because I knew that it would bring me one step closer to destroying you. You Jedi are so gullible, you'll buy into anything these days! Such a shame that Skywalker has come and gone now, because this time, he won't bail you out from the misery you are about to face!"

The Jedi closed her eyes while gasping for breath, thinking that this was going to be it for her. She then heard a light saber ignite, followed by Ventres exerting a short gasp. She then dropped to the ground, gagging for air. As she was on her knees and hands coughing, she looked up and saw Keira holding her green light saber that pierced through Ventress' stomach.

"I think that's enough talking for one lifetime," Keira quietly mocked into Ventress' ear. The fallen Dark Jedi closed her eyes, gasped one last breath, and fell flat onto the ground lifelessly as Keira retracted the green blade. Keira then turned to the Jedi that saved her first and held out her light saber. She continued to her, "I believe this belongs to you?"

The young Jedi picked up Keira's light saber and replied to her, "Wanna make a trade?" They exchanged their weapons and tucked them away.

"Thanks for coming in out of nowhere and saving me," Keira expressed her gratitude to her new friend, "I thought I was gonna die until you came in."

"Thank YOU for saving me!" The Jedi replied to her, "That hairless harpie had no idea that was coming!"

"Well if I wasn't losing I wouldn't have ever been able to set that up," Keira jokingly bragged to her.

The Jedi chuckled for a little bit and reached her hand out in introduction, "The name's Ahsoka, Ahsoka Tano."

"I'm Keira, Keira Hagai. And this is Tess on my shoulder here," She began to introduce herself to her new friend and shook hands with her. She continued by asking her, "So you're a Jedi too?"

"Well, I was well on my way to becoming a Jedi Knight," Ahsoka started, "but then I left the Jedi Order in my late stages as a Padawan for personal reasons. Then I felt a disturbance from the Force telling me that the Jedi Order was in trouble, and that the Temple was being destroyed. So I rushed as quickly as I could to get here so I could make a valiant effort to save the one entity that has become my life. Too little too late obviously." Then she asked Keira, "I've never seen your kind before. What part of the galaxy are you from?"

"A planet called Eco," Keira started, "It's a planet that's on a distant unknown region in the Outer Rim, and it's called Eco because it was named after the substance that keeps the life force of our planet flowing. It's similar if not exactly the same as what the Force would be anywhere else. There are many types of eco with several different colors. For example, I am what I would normally be called a Green Eco Sage. I can channel green eco energy and do amazing things like communicating with plants and such. That's how I got my Force abilities in the first place. It's really hard to channel green eco energy here because there really isn't any plant life at all, which is probably why I struggled with that duel anyway."

"Fascinating!" Ahsoka exclaimed in wonder, then continued by asking her, "So, what are you doing all the way out here in the Jedi Temple then?"

"The Empire came and ransacked our planet," Keira replied with sorrow, "You see, my father is a Green Eco Sage as well and he was once a Jedi Knight too apparently. Somehow he heard about this and taught Jak and I the ways of the Force. Unfortunately, it was not enough, and a Sith Lord named Darth Vader destroyed everything that we knew on that planet. So me and the rest of our friends fled from that planet and split up all around the galaxy to search for secrets that can destroy the Empire once and for all."

"Wow," a stunned Ahsoka said to herself, "I wonder who started this, 'Empire.'" Then she continued to Keira, "Who is Jak?"

"Oh, Jak?" Keira began, "He's my husband. You'll see him soon. He should be done with those Imperial cronies by now," then she looked down at the dead corpse that lay on the ground and asked Ahsoka, "You knew who this, 'thing' was?"

"Yes," Ahsoka replied, "This was a Dark Jedi warrior by the name of Asajj Ventress. She was an apprentice of the late Sith Lord called Count Dooku. She's been after the Jedi for many years during the Clone Wars-"

"The Clone Wars?" Keira interrupted her.

"Yes," Ahsoka replied again, "You see, we were fighting a terrible war against an organization called The Trade Federation. The Republic needed an army to help fend off their multiplying forces. In fact…" she turned to a fallen storm trooper and walked to inspect it. Keira and Tess followed. Ahsoka concluded, "I believe that these troopers that attacked you earlier were the clones!"

"These came from the Clone Army?" Keira asked her in shock, "These guys fought on YOUR side!?"

"I'm afraid so," Ahsoka answered grimly, "Though I can't say that I am surprised. There have been several reports of someone ordering troops to kill Jedi and each other, but I can't figure out who…" Ahsoka drifted off into ponder.

"Vader!" Keira exclaimed, "He must have been the one who did all of this! He must have been the one who attacked the Jedi here! He came to our planet to try and stop Jak and I from becoming Jedi!"

"You're very smart," Ahsoka began to compliment her new friend, "there may be hope for you in the Force after all!" Then she pondered again, "But the question still remains: Who really is Darth Vader?"

"Hopefully all of those answers will be revealed when I meditate here," Keira formulated, "You see, that's why I am here in the first place. My Father sent Jak and I out here for that. He says its part of the training."

"I know of a perfect spot underground that will give you the peace and quiet you need to search for the answers in which you seek," Ahsoka offered to Keira. Then she encouraged her, "follow me." Ahsoka led the way out of the rummaged Jedi Library into a hidden elevator shaft. Keira and Tess followed her into the elevator, and they descended underground.

Meanwhile, the boys were back to normal, with their weapons tucked away, and were casually walking towards the elevator shaft that led to the top of the center tower. Ratchet and Jak led the way while Daxter and Clank followed close behind.

"I told you we could take them." Jak affirmed to his lombax friend with confidence, patting him on the back.

"Yup. You were right!" Ratchet agreed. "Hell of a bloodbath too."

"Uhh…Jak?" Daxter asked him out of concern, "Shouldn't we go back to help Keira and Tess out? That crazy…whatever she was, probably killed them by now!"

"Relax, Dax," Jak turned to him in a calm voice, "Keira and Tess are alive, safe, and well. I could sense it." He then turned around and approached the door. He noticed that there was a security lock on the left side of it. He turned to Clank and requested to him, "Clank, try to unlock this elevator door for me please?"

"Yes sir!" Clank affirmed and pushed his small finger through the small keyhole. He twisted and turned his hand around all different directions as if he was trying to figure out a combination for a locker.

"I'm gonna go in there and do what I need to do," He declared to Daxter and Ratchet, "You guys stand guard outside this door just incase more storm troopers come in to attack. If they do, try to fend them off as much as you can. If things get too hairy, contact me on the communicator and I will come down there immediately. You guys got it?"

"Got it, bud." Ratchet affirmed.

"You can always count on Orange Lightning, buddy!" Daxter exclaimed with bravado.

Jak chuckled in reply as the door opened in front of him. He walked inside and the elevator door closed behind him with Ratchet and Daxter looking on. Inside the elevator as it was going up, Jak pondered '_What am I gonna see in there? Is it going to be another vision of the future? I hope not. Who knows what Samos wants me to see? It'll probably be something dreadful like another vision of people that I know dying again. But then again, there's a method to his madness, and it's always worked out well for me, right? How bad could it be?"_

The door opened into a small circular room with an intricate flower-like design on the floor and on the dome-like ceiling as well. There were twenty small cushioned seats and large windows that surrounded the perimeter of the room, looking out into the vast city. Jak walked until he approached the center of the room, and sat down with his legs crossed. He closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Soon, the landscape around him changed slowly but surely. He would then be surrounded by an array of stars in a black drop background while siting on a small platform. He heard indistinct voices but couldn't figure out what they were, until once voice spoke out loudly to him. The voice was hauntingly familiar to Jak, and he knew it.

"Jak!" The loud, familiar voice called to him. The voice continued, "Have you done as I asked? Have you found my son, Mar?" In that instant, Jak opened his eyes and was stunned beyond belief at what he then saw.


	12. Chapter 12: Visiting Mother and Father

Chapter 12: "Visiting" Mother and Father

"Damas!" Jak stood up and exclaimed to the Force Ghost. Many emotions were running through the hero's mind. He was excited, stunned, confused, happy, and remorseful all at the same time. He could see and hear his father again, but he was only an intangible apparition. After moments of confused emotions, Jak regained his humility and softly continued, "I mean…Yes…I found him, Father. That little boy that you referred to before? Well, I was that little boy."

"I know, son," Damas replied, "I knew all along."

"Wait, I thought you never knew!" Jak started as he was thrown off guard, "How did you know all this time? When did you realize that I was your son?"

"I came to that realization after your first arena match in Spargus," Damas confirmed to his son. "At first, I knew that you would turn out to be a fine warrior and pass all the tests, until you transformed into your dark eco form. That's how I knew that you were my son. That's how I knew that the prophecy that my monks have shown me many years ago, was coming into fruition."

"What prophecy?" Jak inquired.

So Damas told him, "Years before you were born, my monks in Haven City showed me a vision that they had. They predicted that I would have not one, but two heirs to the throne. Both would gain immense power, but also darkness would dwell within them. One would embrace the darkness and harness it for something good, while the other would become lost within it. I couldn't tell which was which until I saw you in Spargus for the first time. "

"I had a brother?" Jak asked again.

"Yes, a twin brother, whom I sadly saw only once." Damas affirmed with a heartbroken voice. "Unfortunately, that led to his demise. It was the worst mistake I ever made in my life."

"How did you lose him?" Jak asked his father once more.

"We were waging a terrible war with the Metal Heads and the Dark Makers," Damas began, "and I was running out of supplies and defense systems to protect the city. I had taken several bribes and broke many laws to protect the people of Haven City, but this act I was the most disgusted with myself with. You see Jak, the day after you and your brother were born, I made a deal with a gang lord whom I had connections with across the galaxy. He needed slaves on his planet and was offering me a substantial amount of credits, more than enough to purchase more powerful defense systems. He needed two people to serve him, and he reached out to me for an offer. I didn't want to give the both of you up, and I knew that you and your brother were far too young to take over the throne."

"So what did you do?" Jak asked in disgust.

The ghost took a few moments to collect his thoughts and answered, "I sold your mother and your brother to the gang lord that lived far on the other side of the galaxy. It was not an easy trade, as your mother never forgave me for what I had done to our family, and rightfully so. I was able to attain the credits I needed to keep the people of Haven safe, but that was the beginning of my family falling apart. Five years later I lost you, and the rest you know."

Jak was almost beside himself from what he had just heard. He spoke to him in a disgusted tone, "I…I don't even know what to say right now, I-"

"Jak," Damas started calmly to his son, "I'm sorry that I was never that much of a father to you. It was my fault that I never gave myself the chance to keep my family intact. I felt at the time that it was the only way to protect the people. But I was wrong. The only way to save the people of the world was through you. Although it would have never been driven into complete chaos if your brother served alongside of you."

Then Jak remembered of his failure to save Eco, and immediately felt remorse for himself rather than disgust toward his father. He replied to the ghost, "Yeah, I didn't do that much of a good job as the King of Haven City either. Because of me, our home planet is lost, the people are dying, and I'm driven all the way out here-"

"My son," Damas calmly interrupted him. "I couldn't be any more proud of the hero that you have become today. You became everything and more I would want either of my sons to be. You've saved the world many times except for this one, and that's okay. As I have learned, there are necessary casualties that need to be made to save the greater good. Your ambition and your will for strength has brought you here to save an entire universe from a greater evil, and you are slowly but surely turning into one of the greatest and most powerful warriors in the universe, even more powerful than our great Precursors themselves, the Jedi."

"You knew the Jedi?" Jak inquired in wonder.

"I gained a few of their assets and some of their wisdom to protect our planet," Damas declared, "They were helpful, wise, and reasonable beings. They gave me the tools that I needed to protect Haven City and more. Ever since I was a little boy, when my father told me fables of the great Jedi Knights of the Old Republic, I have always dreamed of becoming the first man from Eco and the first man from our lineage to become a Jedi Knight. Not just any Jedi Knight, but the bravest, strongest, and simply the best of them all. Unfortunately my ambitions were not strong enough to warrant me the connections to fulfill that dream, so when I gained the connections necessary to meet them, I was far too old to become one. But now you are here, in the Jedi Temple of Coruscant, my son. You currently stand in the same area where the wisest and most powerful Jedi Knights on the Jedi Council would congregate and discuss methods to save the galaxy from any opposing harm. You have taken it upon yourself to attempt an endeavor that I was not strong enough to embark on. I am beyond thrilled with joy that you are embarking on the greatest endeavor a warrior could take on, and I KNOW you will meet the expectations necessary to save this universe from the brink of destruction."

"Thanks, Father," Jak said to him in confidence. He was feeling better about his destiny already. But one question remained still; "I know one half of the equation, but I don't know the other half. Who was my mother?"

"Her name was Shmi," Damas answered him. "and I sold her to a slave owner in a planet called Tatooine. She was the most beautiful woman I ever saw in the whole world, and yet she was different. She was down-to-earth, wise, and caring for others. She was willing to set herself apart from all the other women in the world, and that is why I chose her to become my queen. Letting her go was a foolish mistake, and it broke my heart when I did. So take my advice: the woman that you have now, you never let her go under any circumstances. You keep her by your side, day and night, by whatever means. You will not commit the grave mistake I made. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Father." Jak affirmed.

"Good," Damas began to finish with his son, "Now since I am not a Jedi, I cannot help you with your quest to become one. This is YOUR destiny to fulfill. However, just know that I will ALWAYS be by your side no matter what, until the very end."

"Wait!" Jak cried out to his father's ghost as it began to vanish, "I have so much more I need to know! I have so many questions that I need to ask! Father! Wait!"

"All will be revealed soon!" Damas cried back to his son as his voice began to fade "Search for the answers within you, Mar! You will soon know of the truth! YOU WILL FUFILL YOUR DESTINY!" When Damas vanished into deep space, Jak saw another spirit come before him in thin air. This spirit was more slender than Damas, and he was adorned in several layers of robes. He had a beard, long, dark hair, a short ponytail, and dark, gleaming eyes that stared deep within Jak's soul.

"Now who the hell are you!?" Jak called out to the spirit in agitation.

The spirit replied, "Don't fret my angry young friend. I am someone completely un-related to you, but know of the whereabouts of your family. I am a former Jedi Master that just so happened to cross with your twin brother's path. My name is Master Qui-Gon Jinn."

"Qui-Gon," Jak began to the spirit, "What the hell is going on right now? I feel so confused. Apparently I have a twin brother that I never even knew about, I just figured out who my mother was, I'm not even sure if they're alive, I have friends and a wife still scrounging around this God-forsaken temple, and on top of all that, I have to save an entire universe from this…Empire!"

"It may be overwhelming now," the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn softly assured the young Jedi, "but all of the questions that you ask yourself will be revealed to you in your journey, and your destiny will have that much more clarity. I promise."

"This 'Force Stuff' keeps getting weirder and weirder every day," Jak began to complain. Then he demanded, "Just give it to me straight!"

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that," Qui-Gon denied him. Jak grimaced in disapproval in response, but the spirit continued, "The mark of a true Jedi is one that seeks out the answers within himself, by himself, for himself. In order to attain the answers in which you seek, you must know your purpose. So I ask you, Jak Mikwa, why do you WANT to become a Jedi?"

This question confused Jak. In all of the adventures that he went on he had no idea what his purpose in life was. He knew he was a hero that was admired by millions, and he knew that he was from the legendary lineage of Mar, but he never quite figured out why he was given all the abilities that he has, and he was most confused as to why he was pursuing to become a Jedi Knight.

Jak sat down, pondered for a few moments, and guessed, "Because…Samos told me to?"

Qui-Gon shook his head in dissatisfaction. He was looking for something more out of Jak. He denied his answer, "That statement is far too insufficient for your purpose. Try again."

Jak thought even harder for an answer. He dug deeper into his mind into his mind to formulate the correct statement. He guessed again, "To get the Empire back for what they have done to my planet and to my people."

Qui-Gon then slowly nodded in some satisfaction, but was still puzzled by Jak's statement. "You're on the right track, young one," he started, "but your answer lacks a few important components. Try harder, dig deeper, and concentrate on your feelings. Look into your heart, and convey to me what it tells you."

Jak searched within himself longer, harder, and deeper than the other two attempts. He closed his eyes, and heard a collection of voices within his head. They were all incoherent, but they were all familiar to him. The voices of Daxter, Keira, Samos, Torn, Ashelin, Sig, and his father simultaneously spoke to him. These voices came from the people that counted on him most from day one on forward, and they were all collectively trying to motivate Jak to do the impossible, to save the world, and this time, the galaxy.

Jak concluded, "Because the Force calls upon me to become one. The Force calls upon me to become a Jedi in order to save the billions of people and beings that live on this galaxy. The Force calls upon me to save the galaxy from the Empire on behalf of my friends, my family, my legacy, and especially…Keira. So, I was meant to leave Eco in bombardment all along! The only way for me to save the galaxy for others is to sacrifice the comfort zone that I have lived in all of my life, and to go beyond my own bounds to do the impossible! Not just for me, but for everyone that came before me, and will come after me!"

"There, you have your answer," the spirit affirmed to him, "You have discovered your true purpose in life. When your father told me of the darkness that dwells within you, I immediately became worried that the same darkness might consume you and force you to fall into the Dark Side. However, with the answer that you gave me, there is hope for you, Young Jak. Your eco abilities make you far more unique than any other Jedi that I have seen, but it will not be enough to stand against the Empire. You still have tendencies to be brash, arrogant, and easily tempered, as these tendencies could lead you to suffering. However, you just took the first step towards righteousness, and that gives this galaxy a glimmer of hope, which is all it needs."

"So, why are you here for me?" Jak asked the spirit.

Qui-Gon Jinn answered, "Because the Force calls upon me to aid you in spiritual guidance. You need me, Jak. You need a conscience to keep you away from the temptations that can lead you into darkness forever. You have been struggling with nightmares triggered by fear, and fear is a path that leads to the Dark Side. Neither you, or your loved ones, or even this galaxy can afford that to happen. You have proven time and again that you are brave, heroic, and powerful, but we must hone your humility to help you attain a greater power than you can possibly imagine. But you must realize that with great power comes with great responsibility, all controlled by great wisdom. Can you do that, Jak?"

"Yes, Master," Jak answered to the ghost as he stood up. He looked into Qui-Gon's eyes with confidence and told him, "the check is in the mail!"

"Exciting," Qui-Gon spoke with satisfaction and relief, "You are bold indeed, and I am most eager to guide you on your epic journey."

Then, the spirit told him of his next task, "But before I can guide you, you must go to the planet of Tatooine to discover the fate of your mother and your twin brother. I cannot tell you everything, as you must discover it for yourself. However, once you do, I will give you enough clues to help you discover more of where you came from, as it is an essential part of your destiny. Now go, and may the Force be with you."

"May the force be with you as well, my master." Jak said as the spirit vanished away from his sight, and the setting changed back to normal when he came. Then he felt a series of calming endorphins flowing coolly through his veins, which eased his mind. He contemplated to himself, '_The Force, it calmed the eco inside of me. Both dark and light eco have become less insurgent and more passive. It's like it's flowing in my blood, but not boiling. I've never felt this feeling before. I feel a lot better!"_ He walked towards the exit of the room, and descended down the elevator to rejoin his comrades.

Meanwhile, Keira, Tess, and Ahsoka descended to the underground temple so that Keira could meditate in peace. The room that they were in was three times larger than the small room at the top of the tower that Jak was in, but it was also substantially darker, as the walls and floors were painted in deep shades of black, only illuminated by faint blue lights.

"I've got a weird vibe about this place," Keira shook as she walked in an uneasy pace.

"It's only natural," Ahsoka soothed to her new comerade, "just empty your mind of any distractions that you have, and soon the answer that you seek for will be revealed."

Keira reluctantly walked to the center of the room as Tess scurried off of her shoulder. She sat on the floor and closed her eyes slowly. She struggled to concentrate as many thoughts ran through her head. She twitched her head as if she was in a nightmare. She then stood up and turned to Ahsoka, "I can't do it! There's too much fear inside of me. I can't concentrate!"

"Fear of what?" Ahsoka inquired.

"Loss." Keira replied with a dejected tone.

"Loss of what?" Ahsoka continued, "People that are close to you?"

"Yes," Keira began to admit to her, "especially Jak. I need him more than anything in the universe. And then there's my father, who got us into becoming Jedi. He's in a separate group and fighting this war on his own as well. I'm not sure how much longer he can hold out."

Then, Ahsoka suggested to her, "Well instead of dwelling on the fear of losing those that are closest to you, why don't you think of your happiest moments with them?"

Without reply, Keira sat down and closed her eyes again. She pictured in her mind all of the best moments that she shared with Jak, even the moments that led to Daxter rudely interrupting their kisses. Her finest and most cherished moment with Jak was the two of them bonding together on their wedding day. She pictured the wedding ceremony itself, the joy that everyone shared during the reception, and then the love that the two shared with each other at the end of the night. Yet when she opened her eyes, she felt dissatisfied. She knew that she came here for something else.

"You're missing something," Ahsoka deducted. "You think of your happiest thoughts, and yet you feel empty inside. Didn't your mother ever tell you never to take the best things in life for granted?"

"I never knew my mother," Keira softly replied.

Then, Ahsoka came to a conclusion, "That's it! You've lived your whole life without a mother to guide you! Here's an idea: Try picturing you mother, what she would look like, what she would sound like, what she would be like, everything. Then, she will appear in front of you to give you everything you ask for! Your mother is out there somewhere, Keira; you just never came to her for help. Now is the time."

"Hmm," Keira contemplated to herself deeply, and continued, "You're right. I never really got the chance to reach out to her. I was hoping my new eco powers would help me out with that, but I guess there's no excuse now." Then she closed her eyes and concentrated in deep thought. Moments later, the scenery changed into bright blue skies with fluffy white clouds surrounding her. She opened her eyes and stood up frantically. She looked around in all directions until she saw a golden sun straight ahead of her. From that golden sun came out an older woman. She looked very similar to Keira, but significantly older. Surrounding the wrinkles on her face and her bony arms she had the same dark-teal hair but different length, had the same green eyes, and fair skin. She was adorned with a long white dress with large angel's wings spread out wide as she was gliding towards Keira.

Keira was stunned and in awe. She had finally caught a glimpse of her mother for the first time. Tears began to stream down her face. She was excited that she saw her mother for the first time at this moment, but also gravely disappointed and saddened that she never got to see her in flesh and bone. Like Damas, Keira's mother would forever be and apparition lost in the modern universe. Keira began to sob in sadness as she collapsed onto the cloudy floor.

"Do not cry, my daughter," the angel spoke softly to her, slightly grabbing her chin as she looked up to her. Her daughter's tears soon subsided, and their emerald-green eyes stared deeply at each other. The angel continued, "I am your mother, Eva. It is such a thrill to meet you for the first time."

"But you're not here!" Keira yelled as she stood up and backed away. "You're not in flesh and blood! This can't be real! You can't be my mother!"

"Oh, but I am, my child," the angel softly replied, "and this is real. I have always been with you as you have grown up to be an intelligent, powerful, wise, and beautiful young woman, with many talents in mechanics, eco, and now the Force."

"You've been with me all 22 years of my life?" Keira scoffed in disbelief. "Impossible."

"I am part of the living Force just as you and your father are," Eva continued, "I am one of the many beings that allows eco to flow all over the universe."

"So why do you come to me now?" Keira asked the spirit, "Why didn't you come to me in my nightmares when I was a little girl? Why didn't you come to me in any of my moments when I was one bullet wound shy of death? Why didn't you come to me when my heart was broken, or when I was confused? Daddy always told me that angels are supposed to come to people during the best of times and the worst of times! Why didn't you!?"

The angel let out a dejected sigh and told her, "Because I was supposed to be that angel. I didn't want to come help any one else but you, and I can only reach out to Jedi in need. I have waited so long to urge your father to convince him to train you in the ways of the Force, techniques that I have taught him. And now that you are willing to embrace yourself with the Force, I have come to you as not only your mother, but as a spiritual conscience that will guide you through your journey."

"It was only until recently that my father told me that he was a Jedi Knight once," Keira told the ghost. Then she asked her, "Why did he wait so long to tell me about this?"

"Because your father was embarrassed and ashamed of the legacy he left behind in the Jedi Order." Eva gravely replied, "You see, the Jedi Council was desperate, they were looking for new warriors in unknown areas of the universe to fight an unknown evil. They found a young Samos at the time, and he was urged by his father to go forth and become a Jedi, in hope that he would find the Precursors and unlock their secrets. Instead, he found me. He was a bold warrior that was brash, colorful, strong, witty, and full of life. When he was old enough, he became my Padawan learner. I was a young Jedi at the time, but I had a strong connection with the Force and I was willing to show him all of my secrets. He was a very happy man at the time. Master Yoda sent us on a few missions, and we worked very well together. We served together for a very long time, oddly with him eventually becoming the oldest Padawan in Jedi history."

"Why so long?" Keira asked.

"I wish I had the answer for you, my child," the angel replied, "He grew impatient and tempered as to why they procrastinated to promote him. So I urged the Jedi Council to grant him knighthood for many years, but they refused because they had plenty of knights. We ended up falling in love, but we knew that it was forbidden in the Jedi Code to fall in love with a colleague that served in the Republic. Nevertheless, we were young and reckless, and the romance continued. Finally, the council listened to me and decided to promote him as a Jedi Knight. But all of his dreams would soon be crushed, by me."

"How?" Keira asked again.

The angel continued, "Just before he was to be granted Knighthood, I conceived you in my womb. One of the Senators of the Republic soon discovered this, and bought it to the attention of everyone: the Council, the courts, and the Senate. Your father and I knew that we were both bound to be executed for breaking the law, so the day before the verdict was given, I called upon the Force to give up the life that I had so that you could live the life that you are living in now. It was a necessary sacrifice for me, as it paid off well. Originally, the Republic wanted to execute you and your father, but they had second thoughts. So they banished you and your father through time, and sent you two deep into the past, hoping that you two would never come back. Your father felt so disappointed and dejected that he let everyone down, and that he lost me in the process, he gave up his Jedi abilities and trained tirelessly to become a Green Eco Sage. Alas, he grew weaker, and more ornery."

"Being a Jedi made him happy," Keira realized. "He was at his prime when he served as a Jedi. All of his happiest memories came with that experience, and I took it away from him!" She collapsed to the ground and sobbed again.

With her soothing, angelic voice, Eva assured her daughter, "Keira, if your father was disappointed in you for taking away his prime, he wouldn't have raised you the way that you are today. In fact, it led him to an even greater destiny."

"Which was…"Keira prodded as she looked up to her mother, cracking a smile.

Then the angel concluded, "He was called upon the Force one last time to search for a very special hero. Someone with unique eco channeling abilities, and one who could be capable enough to learn the ways of the Force in time to save the universe from its greatest hardship yet. Four years after you were born, he travelled into the future, a few years after his original timeframe, and brought back with him, a young boy."

"Jak!" She exclaimed as she put the pieces of the puzzle together. Then she concluded, "So that's why you're here! You're here to tell me that my destiny is to finish what my father started, by continuing his legacy, and that's helping Jak destroy the Empire!"

"Your instincts serve you well, my daughter," the spirit complimented her offspring, and then commanded her, "you must finish what your father had started. You must face his most formidable enemies and his darkest demons head-on. You are the beacon of light that gives this universe hope, my little girl. Use that light to guide Jak to his destiny, to fulfill yours, and to give your father his happiness again. I can't give it to him myself, but if you do, you and Jak will receive the greatest gift that anyone can have. A gift that is more powerful than both dark and light eco."

"What's the gift?" Keira shouted with eagerness.

"It is developing now," the angel told her, "but in due time you shall see how powerful it is. Just save the galaxy first, my daughter. And may the Force be with you."

Then Keira bowed humbly and replied, "May the Force be with you as well, my mother."

The angel smiled to her daughter as she turned around and floated toward the setting sun. She quickly faced Keira again as she was departing and told her, "Oh, and one more thing; you don't need dark or light powers to show your strength. You don't need them like Jak does. You are already special in every way possible. You are everything I imagined you to be and I couldn't be more proud of you and your father. Just know that from here on out, I will always be with you." Then as the sun finished setting, she vanished, and the bright blue sky dimmed into the dark setting that Keira was in originally, and the clouds evaporated from underneath her. Keira smiled up to the ceiling and let one last tear slowly roll down her face.

"I feel a lot more better about myself than ever before," Keira claimed to Ahsoka and Tess with relief and joyful enlightenment. "For the first time, I know what to do with my life. I know what my calling is!"

"Sounds like you have a plan," Ahsoka confirmed, "now its time to put it into action!"

"Well what are we waiting for?" Keira began to urge her two comrades, "let's go meet up with the boys and figure out how we can overthrow this big bad Empire once and for all. There's no time like the present!" Then the three walked out of the room and ascended up the elevator. The three girls walked towards the center of the Jedi Archives, simultaneously linking up with Jak and the rest of the boys, who walked toward them.


	13. Chapter 13: Searching For Secrets

Chapter 13: Search For Secrets

As the group reunited in the Jedi Archives, Jak and Keira ran up and hugged each other. They both noticed Daxter, Ratchet, and Clank becoming disgusted with them, so they called off the intimate moment early and broke the hug off. Then Ahsoka caught Jak's eye.

"So, you must be Jak?" The young Togruta inquired.

Jak slowly responded with confusion, "Uh…yes. Yes I am. And you are?"

"This is Ahsoka," Keira interjected before Ahsoka could utter a word out of her mouth, "looks like she's gonna be tagging along with us for this adventure. She's a Jedi too you know!"

"Well, I'm CLOSE to being a Jedi," Ahsoka corrected her, and then turned to Jak, "pleasure to meet you!" They proceeded to shake hands, but before Jak could say anything to her, Daxter jumped down from Jak's shoulder and broke up the handshake.

"Hey baby," Daxter soothed to Ahsoka in his flirtatious tone as Jak buried his hand over his face in embarrassment. Regardless and unaware of how anyone around him felt, Daxter continued, "You looking for the REAL hero of the group? Well, you're looking at him. Name's Daxter. I may be small and fuzzy, but I pack a mean punch for the bad guys and a TON of excitement for you. You can call me, Orange Lightning! One of the greatest heroes the galaxy has ever seen!" As Daxter was showing off his dance moves to Ahsoka, she giggled with amusement. Then Daxter slipped and fell on his tail, which caused Ahsoka to break out in laughter.

"You see that, Jak?" Daxter turned to his best friend, who was still embarrassed by his antics. "The secret to winning a lady's heart is by making her laugh. You should take notes!" At this point, Jak gave Daxter a look of anger, but failed to notice that since he noticed Tess giving him a glare of infuriation. "What?" He replied to her as she became more furious by just looking at him. Then he exclaimed, "Oh yeah! That's Ratchet and Clank back there. They're with us." This caused the lombax and the small robot to glare at the boisterous ottsel with disgust, while Tess charged at him with rage. Keira quickly grabbed her by the tail and rested her on her shoulder, calming her down.

"Pleasure to meet you both." Ahsoka said to Ratchet and Clank.

"Pleasure to be at your service, milady." Clank bowed with respect.

Ratchet added on scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment, "Uh, yeah. What he said." They proceeded to shake hands.

Then Keira turned to Jak and spoke to him with eagerness, "Well, what did you see?"

"You first." Jak replied solemnly.

"Okay," Keira began to recollect her thoughts and continued, "I saw my mother. It was the first time in my entire life that I even saw her face. She was angelic, kind, but also very sad. She told me everything; from my father's complicated past as a Jedi to how she died from giving birth to me. I felt guilty at the time because I felt like with her dying, I took away my father's happiness."

"Sheesh. No wonder old Grandpa Green became such a grump." Daxter interjected. Jak smacked him in the back of the head after he said this, and he growled at his companion in response.

Not acknowledging the ottsel's input, Keira continued, "Anyway, she told me that I am the beacon of light that is supposed to guide you. She told me that we are the saviors of the universe. She also told me that I was destined to fight my father's worst demons so he can be happy again, and that she had a very special gift for us once we save the universe."

"A gift?" Jak asked her, "What kind of gift?"

"She didn't really get into it much," Keira answered, "but she did say that it was going to be more powerful than both dark and light eco."

"Well that will be useful for us," Jak said to her, "just wish we had it sooner."

"It will be here in due time," Keira assured him, then pried on, "well tell me what you saw!"

"I saw my father," Jak spoke softly.

"You saw Damas!?" Daxter asked in shock.

Jak replied, "Yes Dax, I did. "

"Wait, was he a Jedi too?" Keira asked.

"No, no he wasn't." Jak answered, "but he knew of them though. During the beginnings of the metal head wars, he relied on them heavily with information and resources to help support Haven's defense systems. He always wanted to become a Jedi, but never had the means to be the first one from our planet to become one. He told me that the Jedi were even more powerful than the Precursors!"

"Really?" an intrigued Keira asked.

"Yup!" Jak affirmed, "Not lying."

"Well that should make us all feel better about us becoming Jedi!" Keira exclaimed. "So what else?"

"He told me what happened to my mother." Jak added on.

"What happened to her?" Keira asked.

Jak took a moment to collect his thoughts. He cleared his throat and continued, "Damas needed money to purchase supplies he needed for the war effort. Even the resources the Jedi gave him couldn't help him enough. So he felt he had no choice but to sell her to some big gang lord on the other side of the galaxy. She took one person with her too."

"You?" Keira guessed.

"Damas?" Daxter chimed in.

"My brother." Jak confirmed.

Everyone's jaws dropped in shock once Jak said this (Daxter and Keira included). Just when they thought they knew everything about the great warrior from Eco, they learned of more secrets about him that even Jak himself never even knew.

"Jak," Daxter began, "I never knew you actually had a brother! Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Trust me, Dax, I never knew him either." Jak answered to him. "It's amazing, I have a twin brother and a mom that I never even knew in my entire life, and I thought I had it all figured out before I came here."

"I know how you feel," Keira said as she embraced Jak's shoulder, comforting him, "I never knew my mother either until now. At least there is a chance that your mother and your brother might be alive. Did Damas tell you where he sold them too?"

"Some planet called Tatooine." Jak replied.

"What a coincidence!" Ahsoka interjected, "My master happened to be from that same planet!"

"What was his name?" Jak asked him in sudden excitement.

"Anakin Skywalker." Ahsoka said with pride.

"Oh," Jak sighed in disappointment. "Never mind then, different last name. Wishful thinking I guess."

"Sorry," Ahsoka quickly apologized.

Jak then quickly accepted, "It's no trouble, Ahsoka. No trouble at all." Then he turned to everyone, "Anyway, that's where I was told to go to next."

"Damas told you that?" Daxter asked.

"No," Jak answered softly, "Someone else did. This guy named Qui-Gon Jinn told me in order to discover my fate, I need to go where I truly came from first."

"Hmm…"Ahsoka began to ponder off to herself, "Qui-Gon. That name sounds familiar. I can't really put my finger on it though."

"Jak," Keira began, "I know finding the rest of your family is important to you and all, but we have a bigger task on our hands. We can't just put our entire quest on hold for you to go soul-searching on some random planet."

"Our destiny is to save the galaxy from darkness, Keira," Jak began his rebuttal, "and it just so happened to be a Jedi from the past that knew my lost family telling me what the future for our galaxy is with us trying to save it."

"Well, we can't go anywhere yet anyway," Keira turned to everyone, "Needless to say, we're all pretty uneducated on where we came from and what we're really up against. It's time for reconnaissance."

"So…what's the plan?" Ratchet chimed in.

Keira then formulated a plan, "I've always been curious about the history of our galaxy that we never knew about. I figured since we're all trying to become Jedi, it would be of our best interest to learn about the history of the ongoing conflict between the Jedi and the Sith, and both of their secrets. I'm gonna stay behind with Ahsoka so we can examine the history of our galaxy through the Jedi Archives. You boys go scout around the lower levels of the city and see if you can find any secrets of the Empire that would be essential for us and the rest of the gang."

"Oh, great!" Daxter began to complain, "While you ladies get to read a bunch of books for an exam that doesn't exist, we have to snoop around the dirtiest areas of the city, with the nastiest aliens, and a bunch of heavily-armed troopers running around! Why do you girls always give us the dirty work to do!?"

"Do you really want to study for hours on end?" Ratchet chimed in again.

"And I thought _you_ were the adventurous one." Ahsoka scoffed at the ottsel, who gave her a dirty look in response.

"Relax, Dax," Jak assured his sidekick, "We have no problem doing the hard stuff. This probably won't even be that challenging at all."

"Thank you, Jak." Keira commended her husband.

He continued to Daxter by nudging his shoulder, "Besides, you should be thankful that we're not looking for power cells on this planet."

Daxter then quietly whispered in reply, "So that we use those power cells to look for even more power cells?" Then the two snickered softly to themselves.

"Can it, you two!" Keira playfully commanded.

"What?" Jak uttered trying to stop himself from laughing, "Just thinking about better times, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess they were." Keira replied softly with a smile, then continued, "Anyway, there's an air train waiting for you guys outside the temple. Once you hit ground level, be sure to ask anyone you see. Try to see if they can give you any unknown information that they know about the Empire's secrets, BUT DON'T GET CAUGHT."

"Relax, Keira." Jak said to her, "The best place to talk to people would be at bars. Besides, it's been a long day and it's not even noon yet." He then turned to Daxter, Ratchet, and Clank, "I could use a little drink to get me refreshed, don't you, boys?" They all nodded in agreement.

"All right, do what you need to do to get the job done," Keira approved. She continued by asking him, "You remember that Jet Board I built for you all those years ago, right?"

"Yeah…"Jak answered, confused. "What about it?"

Keira handed him a remote with a red button it and told him, "I bought it along with us. I also made a few _enhancements_ to it that you might need. Usually I spoil the details by telling you, but they're all experimental. You'll have to find them out yourself. You can even summon it from any location with the push of that button there. "

"Uhh…okay?" Jak said uncomfortably.

Keira then pulled her husband closer, pointed at his face, and whispered, "Don't screw this up, Jak." She smiled at him, and then winked.

He winked back and said, "Gee, where have I heard THAT before?" They hugged each other, and then separated again. Keira, Tess, and Ahsoka watched the boys depart from the temple in the air train that descended to ground level. With Tess on her shoulder, Keira walked back into the Jedi Temple with Ahsoka.

"So where in time shall we begin?" Keira asked her, eager to learn and hungry for knowledge.

"To the very beginning," Ahsoka answered, "to the very inception of the Force, which constructed the galaxy into what it is today." They quickly scanned through books, documents, data, and all the records they could find about their galaxy. The more history Keira digested, the more he marveled at the events that took place. She was mostly interested in learning about the times of the Old Republic, and admired several galactic figures that came about. She learned of the origins of the Sith, and the main reason why they waged war with the Jedi for several millennia; power. Keira's curiosity of the world that she was in led her into yearning for knowledge of places where she wanted to discover. For the first time, Keira was the learner, and Ahsoka became the master that guided her through history.

Meanwhile, Jak, Daxter, Ratchet, and Clank departed from the air train and stepped foot onto the city streets. They were quickly enamored by the diversity of the beings that walked around the streets of Coruscant. Some looked very similar to them, while others had different colors of skin, a gratuitous amount of fur, and some even had horns on their heads.

As they walked around, Daxter spotted a wookie and chimed, "Ya know, these are some really weird people we're dealing with, guys. Like, that guy doesn't even know the first thing about tending fur!" Then the four of them noticed the electronic billboards gleaming over them. All were shining fluorescent colors, but there was one large one that caught their eye. It had a picture of Jak, Keira, Daxter, Tess, Ratchet, and Clank on a red background. Jak and Keira had their light sabers drawn in the picture, while Ratchet was firing one of his blasters. There was a caption on top of the picture that read, _Wanted: Rouge Jedi and Their Insurgents._ The caption below read: _Last seen ransacking the Jedi Temple. Wanted for murder of Imperial Troops, trespassing Empire property, and treason. Handsome reward from the Empire will be granted for whoever spots them, alive._

Soon, other screens projected news reports that had footage of them attacking storm troopers at the Jedi Temple, and the anchors were all calling for action against them. The boys were expecting the citizens to call them out and call for storm troopers to chase after them. To their surprise, none of them responded. They noticed them walking the streets among them, but didn't bother capturing them. They continued walking.

"How do they even get all of that footage?" Ratchet asked in surprise.

"The better question is; why aren't any of the citizens ratting us out?" Jak added on.

"Yeah, it's like they want us to keep fighting against these bucket heads." Daxter continued.

Clank then concluded, "You tend to forget my friends, these citizens are heavily uncomfortable with the totalitarian acts of the Empire. None of them had the courage to even walk in the Jedi Temple the way that we did. They want us to rebel, they want us to stand up against the Empire so that they can regain their courage of freedom they had before. We're their symbol of hope!"

"There they are!" A voice suddenly called out. It was the voice of a storm trooper, who led an entire legion of troopers heavily armed. The citizens ran out of the streets in fear, and the four heroes stood in panic. They were surrounded by an array of storm troopers. Jak and Ratchet instinctively drew their weapons and stood back to back, with their companions by their side. The lead storm trooper commanded, "Surrender to the Empire or die!"

"ITS AN AMBUSH, JAK!" Daxter cried in fear, "ITS AN AMBUSH!"

Jak grinned at them, which prompted the troopers to fire at him. Jak blocked bullets with his light sabers, and then leapt to strike at the army with spin attacks. As Jak was on one side slicing and dicing his way through the hourde, Ratchet charged at the other side with a semi-automatic blaster while chucking several plasmite bombs at will. The stand was going well for them for a few moments, but eventually it became too much for the heroes. Jak and Ratchet would have their weapons knocked out of their hands and were then captured by nets that the troopers deployed.

One storm trooper looked down on Jak and scoffed, "Rebel scum. I'm just sure that the Emperor would be more than happy to deal with you once we escort you to his palace." He then chuckled, which then caused Jak to fill up with anger. The trooper looked at him and knew something was going to go wrong when his eyes filled up with black. Jak broke out of the net into his dark form, and growled at the remaining troopers. He retracted his light saber from the ground, drew it, and swung and struck violently at them. After finishing that portion off, he noticed Ratchet and Clank still trapped in the other net, with storm troopers surrounding them. Jak withdrew his weapon and leapt high in the air and onto the ground in front of them, unleashing the dark bomb. A wave of dark eco energy jettisoned the remaining soldiers in all directions, knocking them out.

After transforming back into his normal form, Jak ran over and released Ratchet and Clank from net, only to then hear the citizens of Coruscant cheering for them. All of them applauded Jak and Ratchet for the heroic work that they had just done. Confused, yet flattered, Jak and Ratchet waved back at all of them in approval.

Then Daxter jumped down from his shoulder and proclaimed to everyone, "Thank you everybody! Orange Lighting is proud to fight for the people of the galaxy! If any of you need help in this town again, just give me a call, and I'll fly in in the nick of time!"

Clank hopped off of Ratchet's back and approached the ottsel, "But Daxter, you didn't really do anything."

"Neither did you, Tin Can!" Daxter retorted.

"I didn't say I did." Clank replied softly.

"All right, all right." Ratchet interrupted, "Can we cut it with the celebration and do what we came here to do?"

"Now I _really_ need a drink." Jak said to himself. The four of them then proceeded to the nearest bar hidden in the dark shadows of the tall buildings. It was a small cantinia, with cocktail waitresses, gamblers, smugglers, and outlaws alike. Daxter and Clank felt timid by their appearances, while Jak and Ratchet weren't fazed at all.

They sat down at the bar and waited patiently for the bartender to take their orders.

Then the bartender arrived. She was a slender twi'lek with a figure that attracted Daxter quickly. She had dark blue skin and was wearing a leather top with leather pants. Her fire-yellow eyes gleamed at the ottsel, whose heart was pounding madly. It was impossible for Daxter to take his perverted eyes off of her, and Jak noticed.

She approached them, smiled, and asked, "So what can I get you boys?"

Daxter slowly moved towards her and soothed, "I know what I can get YOU baby. You need a healthy dose of the orange lightning don't you?" Jak, Ratchet, and Clank pinched their noses and shook their heads in embarrassment. The bartender laughed in response.

But then she figured it out. She recognized all of those faces before. She continued to Daxter, "Hey wait a second! You're one of these four guys that took out all of those bucket heads didn't you?"

"That's right, sweet cheeks!" Daxter confirmed by bragging, "I was the one that did all of the dirty work by chopping and kicking those boneheads around."

Jak rolled his eyes and scoffed at his sidekick, "Sure you did, Dax."

"Well, I think you're heroic enough." The Twi'lek said to Daxter, petting the ottsel from the scalp to the back. He obviously took soothing pleasure into it.

Ratchet interjected, "So, you wouldn't happen to know a whole lot about the Empire by any chance?"

"Besides the fact that I hate those tidy-whitey bimbos," the bartender continued with spite, "I know a little something that may help you guys out. Just before they took off to chase after you guys, they were talking about some shipments that contained a new substance. Something called, dark eco?"

"What do you know about dark eco!?" Jak suddenly got up and barked.

"Well," the bartender continued, "It's this new drug that's making rounds all over the galaxy. It has very dangerous features, and everyone's after it now because the Empire has possession of it."

"Great." Jak grumbled to himself.

"That's not all," she continued, "It's one of the drugs that isn't approved by the galactic supplement laws, therefore its illegal. I overheard those troopers talking about their plans with that substance. The Empire is illegally bootlegging that drug to consumers all over the galaxy."

"Do you know who the supplier might be?" Clank inquired.

"Well they didn't say who the supplier was," she replied, "they only said where-"

"Where!? " Jak suddenly demanded.

She quickly told him, "They said their main supplier was distributing the majority of the shipments in the desert planet of Tatooine." Jak raised his eyebrows in realization. He had the epiphany that the planet that Qui-Gon told him to go to search for his lost mother, was also the same place where the main dark eco shipments were being distributed all over the galaxy by the Empire.

'_It's almost like they (The Empire) engineered this to lure me into my destiny, my past.'_ Jak thought to himself deeply.

The Twi'lek scanned her surroundings fervently, and then finished to them quietly, "I wasn't supposed to give you this information. I could lose my job for this, or worse. If you share this information, you didn't get it from me." She rubbed Daxter's fur one last time, and then dashed off into the back room.

"HEY! SWEET CHEEKS!" Daxter shouted as she left, "WHERE THE HELL ARE OUR DRINKS!?" she never answered.

"Damn," Ratchet spoke in a worried tone. "When the Empire took over Eco, they got all the dark eco they could get their hands on!"

"We know one thing's for sure," Jak said with an ominous outlook in his mind, "no matter what the Empire is planning to do with all of that trafficking of dark eco, we do know that them even touching dark eco will probably lead into something terrible."

"Well I guess we can go to Tatooine to take care of your mom issues now, eh Jak?" Daxter sprouted to Jak, who smacked him on the back of the head in response. Daxter growled shortly thereafter.

"But more importantly," Clank added on, "We can find out who is working for the Empire, where these shipments of dark eco are being distributed to, and why the Empire is using it!"

Jak quickly suggested, "We need to tell the others, now! Clank, contact Samos, Ashelin, or Torn, and tell them-" But before he could finish, he felt a slight tug from his back. He turned around and saw a dark-hooded man taking his light saber from his holster and examining it.

"HEY!" A ticked off Daxter yelled at the hooded figure, "Drop my boy's weapon. Now!" The hooded figure ran out of the saloon into a dark alley. Daxter then turned into his dark form and chased after him. A heavily concerned Jak chased after his monstrous companion, and then the lombax and the miniature robot followed in suit.


	14. Chapter 14: Resurgence of an Old Master

Chapter 14: Resurgence of an Old Master

While Daxter in his dark form chased down the hooded figure with all of the people in the bar screaming in terror around them, Jak, Ratchet, and Clank were in hot pursuit. As soon as the mutant ottsel chased the hooded man outside the bar, a trio of Imperial Storm Troopers mounted on zoomers gave chase through the dark alleys. The three remaining heroes stopped in their tracks momentarily. Clank transformed into a jet pack that attached to Ratchet's back, while Jak pressed the button on the remote that Keira gave him.

Within a second after he pressed that button, the jet board suddenly flew from the renegade straight to Jak's exact location. When the jet board stopped in front of him, he quickly examined it. He noticed that it was more elongated than the previous version that Keira originally constructed for him.

Then Ratchet suddenly urged him, "We don't have much time. We have to capture Daxter before they do! Let's go!" With that, Jak immediately hopped on the jet board and took off through the alleys as soon as Ratchet did. Jak was starting to teach himself how to ride the jet board again by hopping over boxes and dumpsters and grinding on rails and ramps, but he also knew that the lack of speed the jet board had hovering over the ground hindered his process in gaining on Ratchet and Daxter. While Ratchet was flying above the rooftops, Jak was still on ground level, progressively losing ground with the others.

"C'mon," Jak grumbled to himself with frustration, "There's gotta be some type of boost somewhere around here." Then as his foot pressed the button installed on the center of the jet board, a large, blue wind sail with handrails released in front of him. Jak was at first caught off guard from this technological advancement that Keira installed, but felt a sense of satisfaction when discovered its aerodynamic advantages when it flew above the rooftops. It turned smoothly and flew faster, but Jak was most pleased with the turbo that he used to catch up to Ratchet.

"Damn, Keira," he spoke softly to himself as he used his boosters, "what did you do to this thing?"

As he caught up with Ratchet, the storm troopers chasing Daxter came within sight. Ratchet turned to him and joked, "Glad you caught up to me at the right time, slow poke!" Then, Jak's jet board deployed a small turret at the ventral side, and then fired at the thrusters of the zoomers that the storm troopers were riding on. This caused them to fall in a fiery explosion that killed the three of them. Jak and Ratchet looked at each other with countenances drawn by amazement and shock.

Just before either of them were about to say anything to one another, a new wave of storm troopers riding armed zoomers flew in right behind them. They opened fire towards Jak and Ratchet, who ducked, dived, dipped, and dodged their oncoming bullets with barrel rolls and flips.

Ratchet turned to Jak and told him, "You go bring down Daxter and that crook. I'll cover for ya!" With that, Jak took off towards the chase while Ratchet turned himself over and looked back at the oncoming Imperial troopers while Clank was flying him forward. He took out two small plasma pistols and shot four troopers down with them. Once he saw more troopers appearing and shooting at him, he needed something stronger. He tucked away the pistols and took out his own variation of the Vulcan fury. With rapid-fire action, he took down the remaining storm troopers chasing them down.

While Ratchet was covering him, Jak was inching closer and closer to Daxter and the hooded man that took his weapon, as the chase navigated itself to the industrial side of the planet. With walls of molten metal surrounding them, Daxter was sprinting closer and closer to the thief. When the mutant ottsel got close enough, he sprang from his legs and grabbed the man's body, sinking his venomous fangs deep into the thief's right shoulder. Jak saw this and acted immediately by retracting the wind sail of the jet board and nose-diving it to them. He then jumped off the board and tackled both of them to the ground, causing Daxter to transform back to normal and the thief to scream in pain. Ratchet arrived quickly on the scene and landed on the ground to accompany them.

Jak turned to Ratchet and commanded, "Sedate him, and cuff him up. I don't want him going anywhere." Then he turned to Daxter, furious, and barked at him as he stood up, "What the hell was that!? You know that a bunch of troopers were chasing after us the whole time, right!?"

Daxter stammered in guilt, "I'm…I'm sorry, Jak! I-I-I was just trying to get your laser sword, that's all!"

"I could've handled that!" Jak retorted in disgust, "You didn't need to go dark on the guy! I hope you didn't do enough to kill him!"

While Jak was chastising Daxter for all the trouble he created, Ratchet and Clank were walking over to the wounded thief that was still screaming in agonizing pain. Clank had a green eco vile in hand ready to pour it on the bite wound that he sustained. As Ratchet removed his hooded cloak to expose the dark eco infected shoulder, both him and Clank noticed something that shocked both of them.

"Uhh…guys?" Ratchet called to Jak and Daxter, "This guy doesn't have a right arm!"

Jak drew a stunned look on his face for a brief moment and then turned to growl at his sidekick, "Daxter…"

"I didn't eat it!" Daxter pleaded.

"Spit it out. NOW!" Jak commanded him.

"JAK! I SWEAR! I DIDN'T EAT IT! IT WAS GONE THE WHOLE TIME!" Daxter began to yell and beg to him.

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT EXCUSE!" Jak barked back at him, pointing his finger at the ottsel's furry mug.

"He didn't eat it," the thief suddenly spoke as he got up. The shoulder wound was already healed and his missing limb was fully exposed. The man had dark skin, a scarred face, a beard, and large hair. His tunic and pants had several bad burn spots, and the tunic only had its left sleeve. It was clear that he was weak and could barely stand up straight, but he continued, "I lost my arm a few months ago. I don't exactly remember how it happened."

As Jak turned away from Daxter to walk towards his weapon laying on the ground, he said to him "You're lucky things didn't get any worse." Daxter bowed his head in shame and remorse in response. When Jak picked up his light saber and ignited it, he walked toward the crook and began coldy to him, "As for you…" He then proceeded to kick the thief in the stomach when he got close enough, which caused him to drop down on his knees, holding the afflicted area with his only limb. Jak then held the tip of his blade towards his face that grimaced in agonizing pain.

Jak barked at him, "Isn't it against galactic law to take other people's belongings without asking? Why did you do this?"

The man glared at him and his blue blade in response, which prompted Jak to threaten him, "Speak up now before this light saber becomes both ends of the conversation. Who are you, and why are you snooping around the streets of this planet taking people's stuff?"

The man took a deep breath and told him, "My answer requires a question that I'm about to ask you; How did you survive 'Order 66?'"

"Order 66?" Jak asked him, "What's that?"

The man answered with another question, "You mean to tell me that you carry the weapon of a Jedi, yet you don't know what Order 66 is?"

"Obviously not," Jak retorted, "That's why I'm asking you."

The man continued, "I know you know what it is, but I'll tell you anyway; It was an executive order carried out by the 'Supreme Chancellor of the Republic' that was designed to execute all of the Jedi Knights in the galaxy. Since he had control of our clones during the Clone Wars, he dispersed them to every living system that contained Jedi, and that included all the younglings that lived in the Jedi Temple, which is probably why its near destroyed, as you may have discovered."

"How did you know we were there?" Jak asked him with suspicion.

"While I was 'snooping around the streets,'" he continued, "I noticed you and your crew storming the temple, and two of you had light sabers. I was quite impressed with how you fended off the clones, so I followed you around. I also saw you defeat Cad Bane and then proceeded to fight off an army of troopers in the streets, with a unique set of abilities, abilities that I have never seen out of any Jedi before. Then I became curious as to where your kind of warrior came from, and what your source of power was. I took your light saber to examine it, and noticed that it was unlike any other weapon I have ever seen out of a Jedi. I figured that's where you got your powers from."

Jak withdrew his light saber and replied to the man as he helped him up on his two feet, "First of all, I'm not a Jedi…yet, and I don't know anything of this 'Order 66' because I'm from a planet that's in the unknown territories of the Outer Rim. Second of all, my dark powers come from a curse that I'm stuck with that I struggle to control, not from the light saber that I have, like you thought. Third of all and most importantly, the least you could've done is ask us who we were and what we are doing all the way out here, instead of taking my weapon for no reason at all!"

The man bowed his head in regret and offered a sincere apology, "You're right. I should've asked then, which is why I'm asking now." He proceeded to ask Jak, "What are you doing all the way out here on Coruscant? There has to be a reason, right? Was your home planet conquered by the Empire?" These questions made Jak uneasy, as it showed on his face once he was asked these questions. The crook could tell that he was afflicted by his past. He continued, "It was, wasn't it? You swore yourself to protect it, but the Empire's forces became too much for you to handle. You feel like you didn't do enough to save your people, and you had no choice but to flee with regret. And now you are here, in the capital of the galaxy searching for answers, ones that can lead to-"

Jak cut him off by barking at him with an angered tone, "Don't talk to me about my home planet and the Empire! I want to know who you are, and how you are so connected with them and the Jedi!"

The man glared at him and answered with defiance, "My name is Mace Windu, and I was a Jedi Master that served for the Council and the Galactic Republic." He proved this by igniting his purple-bladed light saber with his left hand. Jak was amazed as was Ratchet and Clank. Daxter on the other hand, was not amused, as he looked away from them and sulked at himself with regret. Master Windu continued, "I was unfortunately the first victim of 'Order 66.' Well, almost. During the late stages of the Clone Wars, there were rumors swirling around the Jedi Council that the Chancellor would be evil, since he took extreme measures by taking over the Senate and the Courts. I unfortunately discovered that he was the Sith Lord that engineered this war, and was playing on both sides until the time was right. So, I confronted him. I had him right where I wanted, and then I was knocked out by something that I didn't see. Next thing I knew, I was on the street levels, mad, a missing limb, and full of fear. I saw the Jedi Temple crumble, I saw the reports of my fellow colleagues executed before my very eyes, I feel nothing but fear for the remaining Jedi that are still alive, including you. Especially you, because you possess a gift that could be useful for the Empire, a gift that the Sith have yearned for thousands of years."

"Dark eco?" Jak replied.

"If that is what sparks your anger and transforms you into something your not." Windu affirmed.

Jak then told him, "Well it just so happens that the Empire has already got their hands on dark eco. They took every last drop of it from my home planet after they conquered it. I'm not sure what it's going to be used for, but we're looking to find out why they have it all."

Mace Windu then told him, "Well we know one thing, if the Empire has obtained a new resource that NO ONE in the galaxy has any knowledge of, it could spell doom for the universe as we know it."

Then, Daxter suddenly rushed up to Jak's shoulder and yelled at the former Jedi Master, "Gee, ya think, limbless wonder!? We haven't noticed!"

Jak growled at Daxter and then turned to Master Windu, "Sorry about that, this is my sidekick, Daxter. He talks A LOT." Windu then glared at Daxter, who turned his head to Jak, glaring at him. Jak continued by pointing at Ratchet and Clank, "This is Ratchet and Clank. We have more comrades over by the Temple you'll meet soon."

"And you are?" Windu inquired.

"My real name is Mar Mikwa, but you can call me Jak." He responded. He continued with an apology of his own, "Look, I'm sorry about the whole thing that happened back there. I didn't want my sidekick BITING YOU IN THE SHOULDER LIKE THAT." Daxter grimaced in disgust.

"It's not your fault," Master Windu accepted, "He was just trying to look out for you, and I respect that. You have a very faithful companion!"

"He's my best friend," Jak began to praise him, "He's been by my side for as long as I can remember. He may get on my nerves at times, but I'd don't know what I'd do without him." He smiled to Daxter, and winked.

Daxter turned to Windu and bolted with gusto, "Yeah! Demolition Duo since day one, compadre!" Windu chuckled in response.

Then Jak inquired the former master again, "Say, you made a mention of a 'Chancellor' that you confronted before…well…you know. Anyway, did he go by the name of 'Ruskin' by any chance?"

"No," Windu answered softly and grimly, "Palpatine."

"Say…" Daxter began, "That's the guy that bullied Ol' Greenie out of the Jedi Order!"

"Ol' Greenie?" Windu asked in confusion, "You mean, Master Yoda?"

"No," Jak replied softly, "His best friend, Samos Hagai."

"Master Hagai!?" Master Windu exclaimed in shock, "How do you know him!?"

"He raised Daxter and I from when we were little kids to basically about every single adventure we went on," Jak replied, "He taught me everything he knew in the ways of the Force and being a Jedi within a month from coming here."

"Interesting…" Windu spoke to himself, puzzled, placing his hand over his chin.

"How do you know him?" Jak asked him.

"I was a Padawan learner by the time he became a master," Windu began, "the last time I saw him he was on trial for breaking the Jedi Code."

"Oooohhhh, so he was bad like us!" Daxter piped in, "What did he do?"

Windu answered the ottsel, "He was having an intimate relationship with a fellow Jedi Knight named Eva Larude. Chancellor Palpatine was just starting out as a Senator of the Republic at the time, and he was the one that testified the evidence against Master Hagai. That testimony sparked the rise to his political power, as it led to his expulsion from the Jedi Order and the Republic as a whole. He testified that Master Larude died while conceiving his child, a baby girl."

"Keira!" Jak screamed in sudden epiphany.

"The child lived!" Master Windu exclaimed in shock, "You know her!?"

"I married her," Jak softly replied to him, "she was the first girl I ever had a crush on. I've known her ever since Samos took me in at Sandover. She's basically the love of my life." Jak finished with scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. Ratchet and Clank giggled softly in the background. He continued, "Anyway, she's a Green Eco Sage like her father, and she's training to become a Jedi like me. You'll meet her soon."

Windu continued, "Master Hagai's punishment was to send him and his child deep into the past where he originally came from. You mean to tell me he's…still alive?"

"Yes," Jak replied. "He's currently training a few more of my friends over on Tython. It's gonna be harder for them than it was for me and Keira since we were born with natural abilities of channeling eco."

"Eco?" Master Windu inquired.

"Yes," Jak affirmed, "It's the substance that sustains life on our planet, just like how the Force sustains life in the galaxy as a whole. There are about six different types of eco, all with different colors. I have the ability of channeling all of them, but I'm more proficient in using light eco and dark eco, which you saw on the Jedi Temple and in the streets. Keira on the other hand, is more of a master using green eco, which allows her to talk to plants, animals, and rocks. Oh, and she's also a mechanical genius. She can probably build you a new arm!"

"Fascinating." Windu gasped in wonder.

"Well," Ratchet interrupted, "We can't waste anymore time here on this planet. The sun's setting. Let's take him with us so he can get fixed up."

"Sounds like a good idea," Jak concurred. Daxter didn't like this suggestion, as he tail tingled in suspicion over Master Windu. Clank transformed into his jetpack form on Ratchet's back, while Jak deployed the jet board. It was long enough for two people to ride on, so Master Windu hopped on the back of jet board with Jak up front. The wind sail deployed, and the two Jedi hung on tightly on the rail, while Daxter was perched up on his normal position on Jak's shoulder.

As Jak deployed the wind sail before he took off, he turned to the ottsel and instructed him, "Daxter, next time we're involved in a really sticky situation like the one we were just in, let me handle it." Daxter nodded in response, but was still agitated with his sidekick.


	15. Chapter 15: The Great Debate For A Plan

Chapter 15: The Great Debate For a Plan

Ratchet and Clank took off and led Jak, Daxter, and Master Windu from the industrial side of the planet all the way back to the entrance of the Jedi Temple, where Keira, Tess, and Ahsoka were already standing outside. As they landed, they approached each other quickly, eager to share the information that they collectively received.

"Hey guys," Jak began as he landed his jet board on the ground, "I picked up a new comrade of our own to join us. This is-"

Ahsoka immediately recognized him and screamed with excitement, "Master Windu!" She rushed to him and embraced him with affection.

"It's good to see you again, Padawan Tano." Windu humbly replied.

"I thought you were dead!" Ahsoka told him.

"I thought I was too, Ahsoka," Master Windu replied to her. He hugged her and continued to her, "So, after you left the Jedi Order, tell me what you've been up to. What did you discover about yourself?"

"After my time alone, I realized that there were things happening in this galaxy that are bigger than me, and I feel that now is the time that I have matured enough to seek redemption!" Ahsoka proudly stated

"Tell me more about your time alone," Master Windu requested. "How did you survive?"

"I think the better question is, how did you survive?" Ahsoka answered with a question, "You're badly wounded. How did you escape, Master?"

"Your eagerness for knowledge never left you, Ahsoka," Windu commended the Padawan. He then continued "Since I am exceptionally grateful to see you again, alive and well, I will begin with my story on everything that happened since you left The Order…"

As Master Windu and Padawan Tano caught up with each other, Jak approached Keira and asked her, "So, scholarly wife of mine, how was hitting the books?"

"Our galaxy is amazing!" Keira exclaimed in wonder. "So much rich history! I brought all of the galactic historical records on a small flash drive that I took in with me. You should take a gander at it sometime! If you looked into the history of the Jedi, you would appreciate the cause we're fighting for that much more, and what they endured to get to where they are today! I'm talking about major events like The Creation of the Force, The Great Hyperspace War, The Exar Kuhn Wars, how the Jedi and the Sith ACTUALLY WORKED TOGETHER to defeat this greater evil that was impacting both of them, and so much more!" She took a deep breath and then joked, "I feel like such a bookworm now! I'll tell you more about it in great detail when we leave."

"I will definitely look into our galactic history!" Jak affirmed, "I think it's cool that one of us is willing to go THAT deep into our universe. We should know about our history. It will guide us well." Then he quickly transitioned into talking about the jet board by retracting it and handing it back to her. He asked, "All right, Keira, what did you do to this thing?"

"You like my _enhancements_?" Keira playfully bragged, "As you can already tell, I gave the jet board MASSIVE upgrades. The first thing I did was upgrading the turbo booster on that thing to make it go faster for a short amount of time. The next thing I installed was that wind sail. Absolutely genius! It's made up of a fusion of different microfibers that are flexible and durable, so that it's easier for you to make sharp turns while above the ground. It's also very easy to expand and retract thanks to the micro sensors installed on the stainless steel arms that support it. And lastly, there's the automatic mini-turret. Classic! It has two cameras, one on each side that can detect and shoot at enemies for you. You don't even have to do the work! These upgrades are pretty ingenious I'd have to say. Don't you?" She handed the jet board back to him

"Very!" Jak concurred with gratitude as he took it back and tucked it over his holster, "It's amazing to me; just when I think you've done everything there is to do with mechanics, you always find a way to one-up yourself and do more than the unexpected." Keira blushed after he said this.

Ratchet barged in and interrupted, "Which is why we need you to build our new companion a prosthetic limb. You see, he doesn't have a right hand, and you did an amazing job in fixing up Clank, you think you could do that for him?"

"Well, I'm not a doctor," Keira began, "but I am a mechanical genius, and I think I can do that for him! Let me see him." Ahsoka then brought Master Windu over to Keira so she could look at his arm. Jak could tell by his deep facial expressions that Mace Windu was trying to speak to her, but couldn't get the words out as he became quite nervous. As she was examining the missing limb on the Jedi Master's arm, Keira asked Jak, "So, did you find anything else that could be useful while you were down there?"

"Everything and more." Jak replied with a grave tone.

"What do you mean?" She asked again.

Jak told her, "We learned that the Empire has their hands on…you know what."

Then she gasped in sudden fear and stopped what she was doing just to turn to Jak. "Dark eco!?" She exclaimed.

"Yup," Jak gravely affirmed, "All of it. From our planet when they conquered it. Every last drop." Keira couldn't reply as she covered her hands over her mouth in terror. Jak continued, "But that's not all. It turns out that dark eco is an illegal substance in the galaxy, and the Empire has suppliers mapped out all over the galaxy to transport it to this site for a project that they're working on. We all know that can't be good."

Keira solemnly spoke with her head down, "Just as my father feared before we started training. This was the exact thing that he saw in his vision." She then looked up and asked, "Do you know where the suppliers are at least?"

"Well," Jak replied, "If we take down the main supplier, I think we'd be good. That supplier is located on…guess where?"

Keira answered with a stern tone, "Tatooine?" Jak nodded in reply, then Keria continued, "Look, Jak, you can't just make stuff up just to go soul-searching for the rest of your family. You would be wasting everyone else's time, which we don't have a whole lot of."

"He's right, toots!" Daxter suddenly piped in, "The bartender we talked to overheard a bunch of bucket-heads talking about their project with all the dark eco that they have. They said that the main supplier on Tatooine needs to get going on those shipments of eco, or else they'll execute him and take the eco for themselves!"

"A bartender?" Ahsoka begun to inquire them, "But how do we know if what she's telling us is right?"

"We don't have any connections that are credible enough to tell us about these shipments of eco," Ratchet replied, "We have no choice but to believe her."

Ahsoka argued back to Ratchet, "I don't think a bartender would be qualified to comprehend on anything the Empire would be talking about, nor would I think that the Empire would speak of something this big in a public forum."

"Well, honey," Ratchet snapped back, "If you were tagging along with us, and if you were actually in the hairy situation that we were in, you would know. Just be thankful that we did our job the best we could."

"I could've found better people to talk to than a bartender," Ahsoka gloated, "I just think that you guys could've done a better job making connections, that's all."

"Hey, we did what we could!" Ratchet retorted, "The information she gave us was detailed enough and important enough for us to take seriously!"

"But is she right!?" the togruta screamed at the lombax.

"WE'RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT!" He screamed back.

"Now, now," Clank came in between them, "Bickering about what sources would be better than others is only wasting more time for us. What we need to do is collaborate on what course of action would be best for all of us. Time is short. The Empire could be hunting us down at any moment, so we must act fast before it's too late!"

"Clank's right," Keira concurred, "We need to come up our next move from here before the Empire comes and stops us. What should we do?"

"Trust your instincts, Keira," Master Windu suddenly spoke. She was drawn off guard because she was dumbfounded that the first time Windu spoke to her, he knew her name. She turned around, and Master Windu asked her, "Tell me, what does your heart truly tell you?" She thought deeply for a few moments. She knew that it was essential for Jak to find the rest of his family that could still be alive on Tatooine, but she also knew that going there could waste the valuable time that they have in destroying the Empire. She was not completely sure if the information she just received was correct, but it was the only piece of information that they could rely on. Any form of action would be better than standing around on Coruscant helplessly.

She reached a consensus, and declared "All right, everyone, climb aboard the Renegade." She turned to Ratchet and ordered him, "Ratchet, set the ship's course for Tatooine." Then she turned to Jak and said, "Jak, once we're in hyperspace, get my father and everyone else on Clank's hologram and tell them everything that we discovered here." She finally turned to the wounded Mace Windu and instructed him, "As for you, make your way over to the back room and get yourself comfortable. I'll bring my tools in there once we're in hyperspace. It's a simple procedure. With the right parts, it shouldn't take too long."

"Thank you for helping me," Windu expressed his gratitude, "I am truly grateful."

"No problem!" Keira accepted as she led the group on the long walk away from the Jedi Temple back to the Renegade. After everyone hopped in the ship, Ratchet set the coordinates for Tatooine, and got the ship off the ground. He re activated the cloaking device so that the ship would not be spotted. As the ship flew above the buildings and towards the citrus-orange sky of the setting sun, the cloaking device was deactivated, and the ship ejected into deep hyperspace once again.


	16. Chapter 16: We Have A New Enemy

Chapter 16: "We Have a New Enemy…"

Just after the crew of the Renegade exited from Coruscant, a fleet of Star Destroyers and TIE fighters entered into orbit. Imperial Forces (Led by Vader) were unaware that the Renegade was present before them, as they completed a swift expedition of Jedi extermination across the galaxy. As the Imperial Forces entered into Coruscant's atmosphere, Errol in his new garments was looking out the window of the lead Star Destroyer. The cyborg was adorned with a black suit with black armor cloaked by a long cape. This was the very same attire that Darth Malgus once adorned, and Errol's new cyber kinetic features suit him with that outfit. Darth Vader obtained several other Sith Acolytes from many planets during this expedition across the galaxy, but it was clear that Errol became his favorite, as he was looking to make him his apprentice once he plans to overthrow The Emperor. As Errol looked into the vast cosmopolitan scenery of Coruscant with his arms folded, Vader approached next to him.

"Ever since I found you, Errol, you have shown me great strength and immense power." Vader began by complimenting his fellow cyborg, "Thanks to our combined efforts, we've executed leftover Jedi faster than we originally planned."

"Thank you, Master." Errol accepted.

"Still," Vader continued, "There are matters that remain unfinished."

"Like what, my lord?" Errol inquired.

"I sense a great corruption within the Empire," Vader began with a dark and timid tone as he looked to his apprentice, "The leadership of the Sith for the past millennia has caused them to turn on each other, even in times of triumph. Something must be changed or else any remaining Jedi will expose our vulnerability."

"Wouldn't it be best if we destroyed the Jedi first?" Errol suggested, "We have more than enough dark eco to wipe then out once and for all."

"Even dark eco alone could not destroy them," Vader replied, "while the secrets of this substance from your world are dangerous and powerful, they are nothing compared to the power of the Force."

"But we have both!" Errol claimed as he looked to his master.

"That we do," Vader continued, "but I don't want them to have any chance of obtaining any technical data for our project. Dark eco is our most crucial ingredient for it. I don't want any remaining Jedi to learn its secrets once we use it against them. Not until everything is complete."

"What is our project, mind me asking?" Errol said with curiosity. Lord Vader then proceeded to pull out a small holo-pad that displayed a hologram of a spherical space station with a darker eye. Errol gazed at it, full of wonder and confusion.

Vader answered all of Errol's questions brewing in his head by confirming to him "This. This immense space station will be constructed to destroy any living system in the galaxy. It will serve as the Empire's final rule of authority, and we've kept it secret from the Jedi for a long time now. Originally, we were supposed to mine massive kaiburr crystals from industrial planets such as Lothal or Utapau, to supply this weapon's lethal firepower. But now that we have found dark eco from your world, we can crystalize the liquid substance, and we will use it to wreak havoc on planets that refuse to be annexed into our Empire. I believe that this dark eco is the most powerful substance we have found in the galaxy thus far. This infrastructure is called, 'The Death Star.'"

Then, Errol's eagerness caused him to exclaim to the dark lord, "I WANT TO DESTROY ECO! I've tried destroying that puny little planet and the weaklings that lived on it before, until JAK came in and DESTROYED ALL OF MY DARK MAKERS CAPABLE OF RIDDING THAT PLANET ONCE AND FOR ALL!" He finished by growling insidiously, "I must have revenge on them, for what they did to me…"

"Patience, my apprentice," Vader calmly spoke to him, "as soon as we are finished with our ultimate plan, you will have the freedom to destroy your home world. They would be of no use to us anymore. However, we can't move forward with the construction of the Death Star until we have executed my penultimate plan."

"Which is?" Errol inquired eagerly.

"We must overthrow the Emperor." Vader quickly answered, "His time with political power is coming to a swift end. He has foreseen this. We must destroy him and restructure the bureaucracy of the Empire like the way it was before. He is feeding off of too much power over the systems, and there have been reports of unrest all over the galaxy. We need a more structured, more powerful, and more unified Order of the Sith."

"Overthrow the Emperor," Errol thought for the moment, then concurred, "I like it."

"He is dangerous to us." Vader continued, "He knows of our involvement with dark eco and our project. If he was to obtain it, he will destroy us and leave the galaxy for his own. Then, once he passes, our universe will be in complete chaos. That is why I am calling to reorganize the bureaucracy of the Empire into the Dark Council, just as it was during the fall of the Old Republic thousands of years ago."

"But, my lord…" Errol began to suggest with concern, "Doesn't that go against the current Sith Principle; 'The Rule Of Two?'"

'"The Rule Of Two' is overrated!" Vader quickly bellowed, "Darth Bane's 'principle' gave the Sith a complete lack of control within its own order. Because of its weak leadership, the Jedi overwhelmed them, and they became extinct for a thousand years. I fear with the Emperor in control, everything that the Sith once stood for will be lost forever. The Sith were at their highest when the Old Republic fell, which is why once I take his place as Emperor, I will call for a re-establishment of the Dark Council, which will consist of the acolytes I have already recruited, including you, who will be the Chair of the Council."

"Master?" Errol quivered.

"Yes," Vader continued, "Once the Emperor is defeated, you will be appointed as the Head of the Dark Council. As Emperor, I will oversee any serious activity that occurs within the galaxy as well as appoint any members worthy enough to become a Sith Lord on the Dark Council. You, my apprentice, will call the meetings together, and discuss with fellow Sith Lords in charge of various departments about any improvements that can be made for the galaxy, as well as how to prevent any threats from uprising against the Empire."

"Thank you, my master." Errol accepted in gratitude.

Then, Darth Vader reminded him, "But in order for this plan to fulfill itself, we must destroy the Emperor first. Once we do that, we will obtain a power beyond comprehension. We will gain a power so great, we will destroy the remnants of the Jedi once and for all, and control every living system in the galaxy, with our project to use as we see fit."

"Well now is the perfect time to act!" Errol eagerly declared, "Since we are on our way to meet him, we can exterminate him quickly in his palace before it's too late. I can take him!"

"No!" Vader demanded, "It's too early. He expects us coming and he could sense our plan if we discuss this any further. We must wait for the proper moment to strike him down. We must be vigilant for the time he becomes off-guard, and that will be the time for us to assasinate him."

"I understand, Master." Errol reluctantly affirmed.

"In the mean time," Vader instructed him, "move forward with the original plan. Be sure to monitor our shipments of dark eco from our suppliers, especially our main supplier on Tatooine. That one is the most vital. If those shipments don't come in soon, this project will never move forward. Time is shorter than you think."

"As you wish, Master." Errol affirmed.

"Good." Vader commended him, "Now we must board our shuttle to meet 'Our Master.'" And soon enough, Vader, Errol, Commander Creed, and a small cell of Imperial storm troopers marched out of the star destroyer and into the shuttle, which flew on a landing strip at the top of the Emperor's palace. Other Imperial commanders, admirals, and generals, saluted the passengers that were on the shuttle as it landed while flanking on both sides of the landing strip. First the storm troopers exited, then Creed, then the Acolytes adorned in black hoods and grey armor, then Errol, and finally Vader. The group walked into the palace and made it into the Emperor's throne room, which was formerly the Chancellor's office. Two Shadow Guards adorned in red helmets and red cloaks flanked both sides of the Emperor, as he sat in his chair, looking at the illuminated backdrop of the Coruscant night sky, with his hands clasped together, and with a grin.

Creed and the troops moved aside as the Acolytes approached before the Emperor. Vader walked in front of all of them, and bowed on one knee right in front of his desk. He told his master, "The Jedi Knights are all but destroyed, my master. There are no warriors left strong enough to oppose us. We are one step away from claiming the ultimate power."

"There is a problem with that statement." The Emperor growled in reply.

"Master?" Vader asked with a skeptic tone, then levitated off the ground with his hands around his neck, choking.

"All BUT destroyed…" The Emperor affirmed as he rose from his seat. He let go of his apprentice, letting him collapse to the ground, gasping for air. Then the Emperor approached him, "Have you been reading the reports, Lord Vader!?" Vader rose, and looked at him blankly. In an agitated manner, the Emperor proceeded to grab a small tablet and held it up to Vader's mask. "Look!" He commanded, "Those FREAKS that you were supposed to eliminate on Eco are still alive!" Vader gazed at the footage the tablet showed. The first clip was with Jak, Keira, and Ratchet storming the Jedi Temple, killing thousands of Imperial Troopers. The next clip showed Jak knocking Cad Bane out of the sky. The next clip showed Keira delivering Asajj Ventress her fatal wound just before she was about to kill Ahsoka. The final clip showed Jak in his dark form destroying all of the Storm Troopers in the streets, and the citizens cheering with glee. Errol peeked over his shoulder and saw all of these clips. They were both speechless at first. There were so many secrets that they just learned about them. They thought they knew everything about them before, and it angered them.

"Jak and Keira are still alive!?" Errol shouted.

"Impossible!" Vader bellowed, "That wretched planet was gutted! Every last living being on that miserable system was either enslaved, or destroyed!"

"Obviously not!" The Emperor fiercely retorted, "Not only did those 'Jedi' that you claim that you exterminated have escaped your 'lethal' grasp, but they are in relentless pursuit of searching for our secrets, damaging our legions, and were scrounging right underneath our noses!" The Emperor then calmed himself down and continued, "Luckily, those imbeciles did not discover our primary operations, nor did they conjure up our future plans, which are vital to our control over the galaxy. They search for our primary shipments of dark eco, but we will make sure that they will never reach it. They chased us, and now we chase them!" The Emperor chuckled briefly, and continued in a grave tone, "Still, there is a greater fear that's among us."

"What is it, Master?" Vader inquired.

"We have a new enemy." Darth Sidious replied, "I have sensed an ancient race in the galaxy has resurrected once again. These creatures are capable of conducting unique forms of magic, and constructing powerful machines that can destroy us. They created the planet of Eco, and once they heard that one of their own planets were annexed under our control, they began their pursuit for us. They can exploit us, and if they ally themselves with an remaining Jedi, including Jak and Keira, there are more than capable of destroying us."

After listening to all of this, Errol shouted with eager vengeance, "The Precursors! Those were the beings I tried to root out for the longest time, and we can finish them once and for all! My Lord, I don't mean to be too hasty, but I learned all of their secrets, their weaknesses, and I have the proper tools to destroy them once and for all! Let me awaken the Dark Makers once again and have them form an alliance with us so we can obliterate them!"

The Emperor then approached Errol and smiled at him, "You have much promise, Acolyte. I can now see that there you will be of vital use for us. We will consider your plans, but I must give you a different assignment, one that will intrigue you more than hunting down the Precursors." He leaned closer to him and whispered; "I can feel your anger for Jak and Keira brewing deep beneath your heart. It gives you power that will make you invincible. I can sense your will to destroy them is greater than ever. Their screams of death are your deepest desire. They are enemies of us, and your most hated rival. Since this task was too much for 'my apprentice' to handle, it is your greatest desire, and my greatest request, to destroy them on sure that they do not even touch a single drop of our dark eco shipments there. That is our most potent ingredient for our plan. Wipe them out; him, her, and any companions that accompany them, ALL OF THEM. Bring me their light sabers so that I know that both of them are dead. If you dare come back without them, your new mechanical extremities will be of different use for us."

As the Emperor was telling him this, Errol breathed harder, his eyes filled with rage, and he growled like a ravaged animal, thinking of nothing but the moments when Jak undermined him and ruined his life, from the championship race in Haven City to the destruction of his Dark Maker Terraformer. When the Emperor finished, Errol kneeled and declared to him, "I will not fail you, My Emperor! I swear on it!"

"As for you, Lord Vader," he turned to his apprentice in an agitated and disappointed manner, "You will search for these 'Precursors' near and far of this universe without any knowledge of them. You must trust only your instincts to search for them. Do whatever it takes to capture them and obtain their most vital resources. Their technological advancements can still be of great use for us, but make sure that it is us who controls them."

"To the ends of the galaxy if I have to, Master." Vader bowed and affirmed.

"We will negotiate an alliance of our own with the Dark Makers, if there are any left." The Emperor declared, and then spoke to the rest of the Sith Acolytes, "As for the rest of you, your allegiance to Lord Vader will be severed and you will all do my bidding from here on out. All of you are responsible for searching and destroying any remaining Jedi across the galaxy. If the Jedi are to form an alliance with the Precursors, I fear the end of our Empire could be fast approaching. The alliance between the Jedi and the Precursors must not happen, so they must become extinct! Now, all of you disperse and execute your duties!" Finally, each and every single person in that room besides the Emperor and his advisors soon filed out of his throne room.

As they were exiting the Emperor's presence, Darth Vader leaned over to Errol and spoke softly to him, "This changes nothing. Revert back to our secret plan once you have dispatched Jak and Keira. I will let you know where to meet and when."

Errol replied, "As you wish, my master." The two then proceeded to embark on their separate quests, with Errol taking Commander Creed and his cell of storm troopers with him to Tatooine, while Darth Vader reunited with Grand Moff Willhuff Tarkin and his Imperial Fleet, and embarked with them on his search for the Precursors, an unfamiliar enemy to him.

Meanwhile, the Emperor was alone with only one of his advisors who approached him as he sat down, "My Liege, to Lord Vader's very small defense, if this so-called Jak and his companions were able to elude him, they could be quite powerful."

"Yes…" The Emperor's shrill voice hissed, "both of them posses a greater power that is unique from any other Jedi that fought in the Clone Wars, but these powers are not new. They are inherited from someone else. Him and the girl are also greatly important to the cosmos, which is why the must not become Jedi at any other circumstance, especially this, Jak.

"But why?" The advisor inquired, "Surely there had to be something that distracted Lord Vader from destroying him, but what?"

The Emperor whispered gravely, "A strong connection between the two, a powerful one indeed, and one that Vader must not know. It will make him weak. Come closely and I will tell you, and only you."


	17. Chapter 17: Samos the Jedi

Chapter 17: Samos the Jedi

As the renegade was travelling through deep hyperspace, Jak, Daxter, Ratchet, and Clank were sound asleep in the cockpit. Suddenly, Jak starts twitching around in his seat as if someone was inflicting him pain. He grunted, clenched, tossed, and twirled himself around before he sprung up from his seat and woke up screaming. He took a few moments to collect himself while panting uncontrollably, and then slunk down on his seat pinching his nose and rubbing his forehead.

"Something's bothering you," a voice spoke behind him. It was Ahsoka. She appeared out of the dark shadows of the dim ship and approached to Jak kneeling down. "You've been having these nightmares a lot lately," she continued out of concern, "that's not a good sign. Tell me, what's been troubling you? What are you seeing that constantly afflicts you so much pain?"

"I had this vision," Jak began with a cold tone, "I saw this hooded figure lead an army of storm troopers marching up the steps of the Jedi Temple, guns armed and ready." Ahsoka's eyes then widened out of surprise. He continued, "This dark hooded figure drew a red light saber. By that moment I knew that it was Vader leading them, but he looked different. I couldn't see his face, but I could feel his rage boiling within him. I see an army of Jedi ready to face him, with their blades drawn. Then I saw chaos; he was slicing and dicing through these poor Jedi like butter, as the storm troopers opened fire at them. None of them ever had the chance. They fell to their deaths helplessly as the building burned from the inside. Then, the most horrifying part came; He came into a room full of little kids that were training to be Jedi. They asked him for help, but instead he glared at them, and slaughtered them all." Ahsoka's eyes began to tear up after Jak mentioned this. He finished, "After he slaughtered those poor kids, A Jedi wearing black robes approached him with a blue light saber drawn, brave enough to challenge him. He had a brown mullet, blue eyes, and a scar across his right one."

"Anakin…" Ahsoka quivered.

"Was that your master?" Jak asked.

"What happened to him!?" She demanded as she got up.

"Well," Jak began with a melancholy tone, "They dueled. Vader struck first while he was on the defensive for most of the time. He made a few good counters and put up a good fight, but he eventually he was stabbed right through the heart. He fell to the ground…and never got up." More tears streamed from Ahsoka's eyes as if they were twin waterfalls. Jak finished, "He turned to me slowly as if he was to reveal his face, but right when I was about to see it, I woke up."

He got up from his seat and turned to Ahsoka, who replied with her voice breaking, "I had that exact same vision…" She then buried herself into his chest sobbing loudly.

He embraced her and told her, "I'm sorry that he killed your master. I had no idea at the time-"

"What do you have to be sorry for!?" She yelled as she backed off his chest, "It's all my fault! I shouldn't have left the Jedi Order! I should've stuck with Anakin and maybe the Jedi wouldn't be all but extinct if I stayed. I turned my back on him when he needed me most! I was a coward!"

Jak put his hands on his shoulders and assured her, "Look, you would only be a coward if you never came to us. I've done some things in the past that I've regretted about, including leaving my home planet in the Empire's peril. Vader has taken something from all of us, and the only way to get everything back the way it was is to stop him and the rest of the Empire before they take anyone else's lives away. The best we can do is put the past behind us and continue with the plan. I know it's hard at first, but you can't spend the rest of your days dwelling on your Master's fate forever. You knew that there would be a time for him to leave you on your own. This is that time to pave your own path, to create your own destiny. If you do this, I'm sure he'll be looking down on you with pride. This is what he trained you for."

Ahsoka sniffled, smiled, and wrapped her arms around Jak telling him, "Thanks Jak. You remind me a lot like how Anakin was; How much power he had, how much he cared for people around him, and the fact that you're fearless."

Jak embraced her back and relpied, "It was wrong for Vader to take his life along with thousands of other Jedi." As they broke off and let go of each other, he pondered, "It's strange though. You had that connection between you and this vision through your master. I'm not sure why I had that vision too."

"Maybe one of the Jedi that was murdered in that temple was your brother?" Ahsoka suggested.

"I hope that's not the case…" Jak replied in a dark tone.

"Well, I'm gonna go check up on Master Windu and see how he's doing. Thanks for taking me in, Jak." Ahsoka departed with gratitude.

As the togruta walked away from Jak, he called to her, "Ahsoka," She turned around and awaited his response. He assured her defiantly, "Don't worry, we'll get him for all that he's done." She nodded, and departed towards him and Keira's room, where she was operating on Master Windu.

Ahsoka entered the room and observed the mechanical contraption that Keira was working on for Mace Windu. It was a red prosthetic right forearm that had small plugs that hinged on the skin that wasn't inflicted by the injury. Keira had her blue jacket off and had a welding mask that covered her face. She used a small welder to softly latch the plugs into his skin. Each time she touched the trigger to ignite the small spark, Master Windu grunted in slight pain, and one of his new cybernetic fingers would twitch. Keira was truly performing a miracle.

"How is he?" Ahsoka asked her.

Keira replied, "For what it's worth, he'll be as good as new! Honestly, as I was doing the procedure, I didn't think that I could pull this off. I was scraping around for every compatible part I could find. I also injected a little green eco in the inflicted wound, which eased his pain significantly. It was harder than I originally thought but, I managed!"

"You managed to do an excellent job!" Ahsoka complimented as she saw her old master's new fingers twitch, "Look! He can move his fingers on his own! It's a miracle!" She ran up to Keira as she took off her welding mask and hugged her, "You rock, girl!"

"Eh, I try!" She chided jokingly.

Ahsoka then yawned and then told her, "Well, I'm gonna go get some shut-eye. It's been a long day. Wake me up when we get to Tatooine!"

"Will do!" Keira affirmed. Ahsoka smiled and walked away from the room to her own across the hallway.

Then Master Windu sat up on the bed and looked to Keira, "You've done amazing work with my new body part. I never thought that I could have such a miracle as this. Thank you for helping me get back on my feet. You truly are an amazing mechanic and healer."

Keira blushed as she ran two of her fingers down her teal hair, "Oh, well, I never expected to do this much with my life. Between inventing and building new machines, repairing old ones, being a green eco sage, and training to become a Jedi, I'd say my schedule is always full for sure!"

"Your husband picked the right woman to be his wife, that much is true," Master Windu complimented her as Keria giggled while turning around to reach for her jacket. He finished, "and I'm sure your father would be proud of you too."

"Wait…" Keira stopped him as she was putting her jacket back on, "how did you know my father?"

"I was a Padawan Learner just when your father became a Jedi Master," Master Windu replied as he was examining his new hand, moving his prosthetic fingers and wrist around. Keira's eyes widened with surprise as he continued, "The Jedi Council was set to assign me as your father's permanent apprentice when Senator Palpatine started the investigation on suspicious activity on him having a relationship with his master, Eva Larude."

"Why?" Keira inquired as she turned around to look at him.

"Because it was against the Jedi Code to have an attraction with a fellow colleague that you serve with in the Galactic Repbublic, and that includes fellow Jedi." Windu explained, "Anyway, no one was aware that they were having an intimate relationship. They weren't that far off of each other with age so everything seemed normal. Regardless, the senator snooped around every nook and cranny he could find just to convict her and your father, and eventually he discovered that she was pregnant with his child, his daughter, you."

Keira's lips began to quiver after Master Windu finished that statement. She asked him, "How did he manage to figure that out?"

"He had spies figure it out for him," Master Windu replied, "I don't know why, but he always had a sense of ire towards your parents, especially your father. I guess your father was just more popular among senators than he was. He was popular with everyone, really. He was talented, bold, powerful, well beyond his years in training, and used everything he had to save lives, which is what the Jedi are supposed to do. Although there was enough reason not to make him master everyone still believed that his promotion in the Jedi Council was long overdue. I have had many masters during my early years of training and once Master Yoda found out that your father was close to being promoted, he was going to assign me as your father's permanent apprentice, and then the day came."

"That I was born…" Keira whispered to herself quietly, "The day my mother died."

"And then the trial followed shortly thereafter." Windu continued, "Master Yoda and I snuck into the courtroom during the trial because we were both concerned for you and your father. Senator Palpatine was heavily adamant on executing both of you and demanded for it. However, the rest of the senate believed that it would be inhumane to execute an infant child and her father. So, the court ordered a construction of a rift ring, and used it to banish you and your father through time-"

"To the place I grew up," Keira interrupted, recollecting her memories, "To Sandover." She then buried her face beneath her palms and sobbed.

"Yes…" Master Windu affirmed in a confused tone. He then came up behind her and softly touched her shoulders and spoke to her, "Hey, look. I sensed that you saw your mother for the first time recently. I can tell that you shed sorrow thinking about her, but I can also sense that she's looking down on you right now with pride." Keira turned around and wiped her tears away as he continued, "I know your father is proud of you too. He was wise beyond his years indeed. He sensed that something was evil with Palpatine, and he implored that to everyone, including Master Yoda. However, no one believed him, and we all sensed nothing wrong with him during his rise to power. By the time we realized it, it was already too late."

"No one ever listens to my father," Keira said to him, "Heck, that's how Jak and Daxter started to become heroes; by disobeying his orders."

Master Windu continued, "Well, it took me years to finally figure out that he was right all along, as I discovered during the end of the Clone Wars that Chancellor Palpatine was the Sith Lord that engineered it in the first place. He funded both sides that were fighting each other; the Trade Federation and the Clone Army. He went by the title of 'Darth Sidious.' As I approached him in his study to arrest him and bring him to the senate, he confronted me. He was a tough opponent, but before too long I was able to knock him on the ground. I knew I had to kill him, and right before I struck at him, something came from behind me and cut my arm off. I couldn't remember what it was, but the next thing I knew was that he electrocuted me and forced me out of the building, falling hundreds and thousands of feet into the streets. I somehow lived, but I was driven mad and out of fear. That is, until you all came to me." He looked at Keira deeply into her eyes and broke to her in a cold tone, "I fear that Sidious is the Emperor that has complete control over the galaxy."

Keira then turned around, took a few steps, and concluded, "So…the senator that ratted out my father and got him expelled from the Jedi Order was the same Chancellor that manipulated the Clone Wars and was also the same Sith Lord that defeated you and made you insane, and he's now the Emperor that we're looking for."

"I'm afraid so." Master Windu affirmed.

"I've been in better situations." Keira said to him.

Then, Mace Windu turned to her and spoke to her in a grave tone, "Keira, you are strong and powerful indeed, but I guarantee you that saving the universe will be a greater challenge than you initially realize, especially with this type of Empire clenching the galaxy by the throat. Believe me, not even ten-thousand Jedi Knights could stand up to this uprising."

"We have one connection that they don't have," Keira deducted as she turned around to face him.

"What?" He asked.

"The Precursors!" Keira exclaimed with whim.

"I'm sorry?" Windu shook, confused.

"They're the beings that created my home planet, along with several others," Keira explained. "They're also known for using magic and eco to build intricate yet powerful devices that can not only create worlds, but defend them from even the most powerful forces. They can also predict the future correctly by linking together cosmic events that happened in the past."

"Interesting," Windu pondered, "your father mentioned them a whole lot while he was training to be a Jedi. He said that he was training in using the Force as a method to find them and what their purpose is, as well as his."

"We had a powerful Precurian defense mechanism to defend our planet from the Empire when they invaded," Keira began, then concluded solemnly, "but we never had the chance to activate it."

"Did the Empire destroy your planet?" Windu asked.

"No," Keira replied, "They conquered it, and then took all the dark eco that came with it."

"That's what your husband told me," Master Windu said to her, "Both of our worst fears of this, 'Empire' have been realized. It will take more than us on this ship to take the Empire down, and the Emperor has obtained all the clones."

"What about the Trade Federation?" Keira inquired.

"They became extinct after the war ended," Master Windu replied, "All of their technical data has been wiped out, and their factories and infrastructure are destroyed as well. We'll need to come up with our own Army, but where?"

"Looks like we'll have to seek out the Precursors for aid," Keira suggested, "Plus, Ratchet is commanding a whole army of powerful HALO troops that are stationed on Yavin IV, but we can't release them until we have all the information on the Empire's secrets."

"They won't be easy secrets to obtain," Master Windu advised. "We need to know where they are operating out of, and what their future plans are. Hopefully obtaining these dark eco shipments could give us a clue."

"I hope you're right…" Keira trailed off, pessimistic and anxious.


	18. Chapter 18: Linking Up With the Comrades

Chapter 18: Linking Up With the Comrades

While Ahsoka exited into her room, Jak turned around and looked down on to Clank. He woke him up by calling, "Clank. Wake up, buddy." The small robot flickered his green eyes as he stretched and stood up on the chair. He was pleasant to wake up unlike most people Jak knew.

"You've awakened me for my assistance, sir?" Clank asked politely.

Jak continued, "Yeah, can you dial up Samos and Torn and all of them on Tython? We forgot to do that at the bar while we were back at Coruscant, and I need to deliver our findings to them."

"As you request, sir." Clank accepted, as he pulled out a holographic projector component from his chest. When the projector turned on, a life-sized hologram of Samos appeared with his staff in hand, and an anxious look on his face.

"Jak, my boy!" Samos greeted him, "How did things go on Coruscant? Did you find everything that you're looking for?"

"Everything and more," Jak replied, "Do you want to speak to Keira?"

"No," Samos softly answered, "I saw what she saw in her vision, and I've been speaking to her mother during my time here. I can sense that Keira is quite concerned for her future, as she is also still troubled by coping with her part of the past she never knew about. It worries me deeply." He changed the subject into a lighter tone, "Anyway, I'm more interested in what you found, Jak. What did you see?"

"I saw my father," He replied in a soft, depressed tone.

"And?" Samos pried on.

"He told me the whereabouts of the rest of my family," Jak continued, "He was married to a woman named Shmi. The monks told him of a prophecy from the Precursors that the new heir of Mar would not only be one, but two twin boys, both would be touched by darkness. One would embrace it and use his dark gifts for good and to protect mankind. The other, however, would be captured within the darkness, and would be consumed by it so that he would change forever. To support the war effort against the Metalheads, he sold her and my long lost twin brother to an unknown slave owner on this planet called, 'Tatooine.'

"Coincidentally," Ratchet jumped in as he stretched himself while he woke up, "we received a report from an anonymous source that overheard Imperial troopers discussing about an overwhelming majority of dark eco shipments scheduled to leave that planet soon. We're on our way to intercept those shipments and destroy them before they take them to…wherever they're taking them."

"By the Precursors…" Samos shook as he held his hand to his heart, "this is exactly what I had feared in my vision. Do you know what they need all of that dark eco for?"

"Nope, not yet." Jak replied, "But whatever it is, we all know it can't be good. Anyway, how are things over on Tython?"

Then a holographic projection of Torn appeared and chimed in frantically, "It's bad. This while entire planet is a battlefield. Every time we all find a safe and secluded spot to 'train,' more and more storm troopers keep attacking us every day. It gets harder and harder to concentrate because we spend so much of our time busting our asses to hold them off! We're running out of weapons, supplies, and time, fast!"

A holographic projection of Ashelin also appeared shortly thereafter and instructed them, "We need you to prevent the Imperials from shipping all of that dark eco out of that planet. We also need you guys to do more reconnaissance work to find out where their main base is, and how they are building all of their weapons, troops, and ships."

Torn followed up, "We need to know how they're getting resources to build all of their crap, where all of those dark eco shipments are supposed to go, and what specifically is it used for."

"But first," Samos advised, "You must find the supplier and destroy all of their shipments of dark eco. They must not leave that planet under the hands of the Empire!"

"We're on our way to Tatooine to stop those shipments from departing," Ratchet assured them, "we just need to find who has them and where they are first. Clank's got every activity from every living thing on every area on every planet in this galaxy, so it shouldn't be too hard."

"That's a good thing because I have no idea where to look first."

"Jak!" Samos bellowed at him, "Do you remember a thing that I've taught you? You're supposed to search your feelings to find the answers yourself. No one is going to 'hand' you these locations of items anymore. As a Jedi, you have to concentrate on the thing that you desire most, and have your heart follow it, so that it will take you there. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." Jak affirmed softly, then asked, "Wait, is that how I'm gonna try it for the rest of my family?"

"Only one way to find out, my boy." Samos replied, "Whatever that vision told you to do, you must do it. It is the only way to save this galaxy, and even yourself. In the meantime, you guys must find what you are looking for, and give us an update. We're counting on all of you." With that, Samos, Torn, and Ashelin all signed off, and their projections vanished.

Meanwhile on Tython, Sig and Jinx were fending off waves of storm troopers using grenade launchers, while Torn and Ashelin rushed back to them firing their pistols. Samos scurried over near the rocks and hid behind them, hoping that he wouldn't be spotted. As much as he desired to destroy the Empire, there was a sense of fear that was holding him back from pitching in and helping them out. This is a routine that has been occurring ever since they left from Raxus Prime.

"Let's rush over to that cave before they bring down the bad boys on us!" Sig frantically commanded. They followed him by sprinting to the nearest dark cave that hid behind a large waterfall, with Samos lacking behind considerably.

"Hurry up, old man!" Jinx yelled back at Samos, "Just cuz you're almost dead doesn't mean we have to be!" Slightly insulted, Samos frantically caught up with the others and joined them as they all jumped off of a cliff that led into a deep inland lake. Once they all surfaced, they swam through the tall, cascading waterfall and climbed within the dark cavern that was cloaked by the stream's blue curtain. They all crawled inside and sat around the cave in a circle, with Samos' staff standing tall in the center, emitting a green beacon.

"We can't keep holdin' them off foreva!" Jinx began to complain. "They're swarmin' everywhea like a horde of wumpbees!"

"Seriously, tree stump," Torn chimed in, "How do you expect us to train to become 'Jedi' when we don't have the powers for it nor do we have all the space on this world to train in without a bunch of bucket heads attacking us every day?"

"To use patience!" Samos yelled in agitation, "Which what all of you lack! If you were even as half as wise or as patience as I am, you would realize that the proper Jedi Training in this area would be to drive these storm troopers back!"

"No offense, green chili pepper," Sig added on, "Yeah this is the planet where the first of the Jedi walked, but that doesn't mean that it will help us. We've learned a lot, we really have. But with so many of these crud-buckets roaming around, it makes it hard on us to concentrate. Look at us! We're not like Jak or Keira. We're waste landers! We rely on strength and survival by whatever means. We're supposed to be charging after these guys guns blazin', not just hanging around learnin' sorcery and wasting our time! We get what you're trying to do here, but we can't do it here. In order for us to survive, we have to fight."

"Hmm…" Samos pondered, stroking his long, snow-white beard, "Well, in that case, we'll go to a different planet. One where you can concentrate better from a teacher that is more in tune with the Force than I am."

"Where's that?" Ashelin inquired.

As Samos reached into his pocket and pressed a small button on a remote to autopilot the Duplicate Renegade over to his exact location, he replied, "Dagobah."


	19. Chapter 19: Keira's First Dream

Chapter 19: Keira's First Dream

Ahsoka was laying on the top bunk of her room looking up at the ceiling, contemplating on the events that took place today. Then, Master Windu entered the room and sat on the bottom bunk with his head hung low, examining his new hand thoroughly.

Then Ahsoka asked him, "What do you think of our new allies, master?"

"I sense that there is something wrong with them." Master Windu replied.

"How so?" She asked him again.

"Well," Master Windu began, "I've already seen this, Jak in the strangest of forms. He has very unique abilities unlike any other Jedi that have walked before him; powers that I've never seen out of anyone, even the greatest of Force-Sensitives, and I do believe that they are dangerous."

"Wait," Ahsoka stopped him, "So Jak is a threat to us? He can't be!"

"He might be," Windu continued, "he has these, 'light eco powers' that allow him to fly, shield himself, freeze time, and heal himself, as well as absorb energy from various sources only to blast it back at his enemies. What concerns me more are his 'dark eco powers.' These are powers that are lethal beyond coherent comprehension. The only thing that I know for sure is that these powers that Jak has are stimulated by his fear, anger, and hatred, and I can sense much of all of them within him."

"I don't sense any of that in him," Ahsoka concurred, "he reminds me a lot like, my master, surprisingly."

"Anakin had many noticeable flaws, Ahsoka," Master Windu admitted to her as he lay down on his bed, facing upwards, "You just trusted in him so much that you never saw it. Your emotions have clouded your judgment so much that you never saw his true self. He was more powerful than any of us combined, but over all of that, he was reckless, unpredictable, irrational, and highly dangerous to others."

Ahsoka then jumped down from her bunk and barked at him, "You're lying! How could you even say that!?"

"I sensed it within him," Windu replied, "I never trusted him ever since the day I met him when he was a boy. His potential was lethal, and so is this, Jak's."

"I don't believe you," Ahsoka argued back, "Anakin was just intense and did everything he could to do whatever was asked of him. He went great lengths to protect others, and I believe Jak would make as much of a powerful Jedi as he was."

"His arrogance led to his death," Master Windu retorted as he sat up to face her, "He thought that he was powerful enough to destroy the Sith. Instead, they consumed him. That's why I'm afraid for this, Jak, because he has that very same attitude. Besides, it's Keira that I'm more worried about."

"Keira!?" Ahsoka shrieked, astounded. "But…why her? She can't be that dangerous! She's sweet, innocent, and very crafty as well!"

"She's also lonely, and empty inside, like something's missing."

'_Her mother!' _Ahsoka exclaimed to herself.

"I fear that she has created a strong desire to find whatever she lost before," Windu continued, "In fact, I myself don't see why she could be unhappy. She has a husband, an array of skills and powers, and a very intelligent mind. However, a strong desire to search for something once lost before could lead into disaster. I fear that these two could be on a collision course for the Dark Side, now that they are learning the ways of The Force."

"I don't mean to be too hasty, master," Ahsoka began to argue, "but I think you're being a little too paranoid about our new allies. Can't we just get a chance to get to know them better?"

"That's probably the best course of action," Windu concurred, "but we still have to watch them closely. You look after Keira, while I keep an eye on Jak. We'll see if there is anything suspicious brewing within them."

"As you wish, Master." Ahsoka agreed as she dimmed the lights and hopped on the top bunk. As she was laying down, she bid her master, "Good night, I'm glad to have you back."

"I'm glad to have you by my side as well, little one." Windu said as he lay down on his bunk, "Goodnight."

Meanwhile, Jak and Keira were getting ready to go to bed in their room while the two ottsels were already passed out, lying on the hammock on the side. Keira appeared adorned only in her light-blue nightgown, while Jak sat on the bed looking down at the ground, wearing only his dark-blue shorts. Once his wife approached him, he looked up and cracked a smile, as he saw her forlorn countenance.

"Everything all right?" Jak asked her. Keira shook her head slowly as she was looking down, which prompted Jak to stand up and softly embrace her. He asked again, "What's wrong?"

"Jak," Keira began as she rested her head softly on his chest and her eyes peacefully shut, "I was thinking, about when we traveled through that rift all those years ago. I never thought it would eventually bring all of us out of here into outer space, away from home."

"You miss it, huh?" Jak spoke softly to her, "So do I, terribly."

"Not just Haven City or Spargus, though," Keira interrupted him, "I miss the way we were before all that; my father's hut, the A-grav, the lush green grass, the sandy beaches, the deep-blue oceans, all of it. I miss the place where we all grew up. It's where we laughed. It's where we ran. It's where we cried. It's where you met your two best friends, and It's where I first saw you, and fell in love with you." Jak shed a tear while she was saying this, because he knew what she was talking about. She concluded, "I miss Sandover."

Jak rested his chin on the top of Keira's leafy teal hair and rocked her slowly. He replied, "I know, I miss it too. Not a day goes by when I wonder what our lives would be like if we all haven't travelled through that rift. Then again, I'm glad we did, because we met so many of our best friends that have trusted in us ever since we arrived. And all the adventures we had together? They were worth it. I don't think we would've done what we did up until now if we went through that rift in the first place. Hell, I would never know where I truly came from in the first place."

"But is that a good thing?" Keira asked as she looked up to him.

As he became captured in her radiant complexion stemming from her sparkling emerald eyes, Jak replied, "I think it is, because think about what we've done together. We've done incredible things that were worth more than all of our friends and us combined, several times. But still, I always think about formulating a plan on how to get back to Sandover. You know, exactly the way it was before Haven City came around, before Mar was even a thought. It'll be our last adventure before we settle down. Sounds perfect, ya know?"

"It does…" Keira replied pessimistically as she slowly stepped back from Jak's embrace, "But Jak, how do you expect us to travel back through time to go back to the place where we originally came from? There are no rifts left!"

Jak reached out his hand and cupped his wife's chin as he replied, "There is the Force, Keira. If we can learn how to master everything there is to know about it, we'll be able to do anything we set our minds to."

"I'd be careful saying that," Keira lectured as she put his arm down, "I feel like craving that much power for something as impossible as that would lead you into a path of madness; a path to the Dark Side."

Jak's dark powers tingled for only a split second when he quickly replied; "I'm not too worried about it now. That's way ahead of the future. But for now, we need to focus on the task at hand. We should get some sleep; we've got a big day tomorrow."

"I'll only go to sleep," Keira chirped dreamily, "If you'll hold me."

"As you wish," Jak affirmed as he stepped aside, allowing Keira to crawl onto the bed and slip underneath the covers first. Once she laid peacefully on her side, Jak would follow in and wrap the covers around him, and slowly wrap his arms around her flat stomach, while Keira's hands caressed his wrists.

He kissed her on the cheek and whispered, "Goodnight, babe."

"Goodnight, my love," Keira whispered softly as she was closing her eyes, "Love you." They both yawned, shut their eyes, and fell fast asleep, with Jak holding Keira's smooth body tightly against his.

Then all of the sudden, Keira opened her eyes that looked up directly at a bright-orange sky, with dark cirrus clouds streaming underneath it like a set of painted curtains. She was fully dressed in her normal attire, except her ruby-red combat boots lay on the right side of her. She sat up and noticed the fire-yellow sun was slowly rising over the dark-blue ocean. She looked to each side of her and saw a long plain of sand. She picked up a handful of that sand and watched the small granules slowly cascade down her fingers. Suddenly, she felt a tingling sensation stemming from her toes, as the cold water from the tide slowly wrap around her feet like a translucent blanket. She scratched her head and began to process the scenery around her.

'_I can see the sunrise,"_ She began, "_I can smell the ocean, I can hear the seagulls flying and squawking about, I can feel the sand from beneath my hands and feet, and I can taste the fresh air that I have yearned for many years. It feels like home; it feels like Sentinel Beach. If where I am at is indeed Sentinel Beach, then I must really be…"_

Then she stood up, gasped, and exclaimed, "Sandover! We're home!" She turned around out of excitement and shouted, "Jak! We're…home." Her tone turned from one full of glee into one full of fear, as her husband was nowhere to be found. "Jak?" She called out again, "Where are you?" she noticed that her light saber was in her side pocket, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she slipped her ruby-red boots on. She began her search for the others that she knew.

"Jak? Daxter? Where are you guys!?" She cried as she searched in every nook and cranny that composed of Sentinel Beach. She checked all of the stone pyramids, on top and underneath, as well as all the cliffs, rocks, and mesas that stood alone in the ocean. There was still no sign of them. She dared to check the towers that manned one of the old lurker cannons at the top. She used her Force abilities to hop on to each grassy mesa until she reached the top. When she did, there was no sign of them.

Keira looked to her right and saw the small white cottages of the village from where she came from. She walked over to the edge of the tower and watch the sunrise over them. Soon, the sky turned into a sky-blue hue, the clouds became lighter until they reached snow-white, and she began to remember everyone that ever lived at that village.

"_Maybe the villagers would know where they are." _She thought to herself. Then she took a deep breath and dove from the top of the tower, submerging herself into the deep, dark ocean. When she rose and gasped for breath, she noticed a large, angry lurker shark approaching quickly towards her. Out of panic, she paddled her legs and stroked the water with her arms as fast as she could just to get away from the shark that was chasing to devour her. The shark was clearly faster than her, as it came within striking distance of eating her. Just when it opened its large, cavernous mouth with razor-sharp teeth, Keira's feet touched the shore and she sprinted away from the shark as it closed its jaws.

Keira collapsed onto the sand for a brief moment, panting frantically to retain all of the oxygen lost in that brief moment of adrenaline. Once she caught her breath, she stood up, and walked up the steps that led into Sandover Village. When she entered the village, she saw transparent images of her, Jak, and Daxter when they were young children. Young Keira was in a little pink dress, scavenging for old Precursor Artifacts to install on her wooden prototype of her zoomer. Little Daxter was short, tan, had firey orange and red hair, wearing only a pair of white pants and a red t-shirt. He was playing practical joke on the villagers, which included chasing The Sculptor's Muse around the village with one of the Fisherman's dead fish, which he also used to whip The Farmer's yakkow. He also threw The Explorer's trinkets and gadgets in The Birdlady's house. He was laughing and giggling all around the village, while The Mayor sobbed out of anger and humiliation because of young Daxter's antics.

Meanwhile, there was Jak, the little boy who was destined to save the world from the Acherons, the Metalheads, the Dark Makers, all the crime lords, the Aeropans, enemies from deep in time, rogue warriors from far away lands, and would eventually become the galaxy's last hope to save an entire universe from the oppression of the Sith. The yellow-green-haired boy was standing in the bright green grass, all alone, wearing a blue t-shirt, light-brown pants, and his goggles. He was looking up at the sun, full of optimism, and exciting. He gleamed at it as if it was the key that would lead him to his destiny as a hero.

As the three children vanished in the wind, Keira held her hand above her mouth, with tears streaming from her eyes like twin waterfalls. She cried because the village made her remember all of the adventures that she had with Jak and Daxter, and it was them who sparked her happiness. She shook off all of these emotions, and started searching for the villagers that once occupied the village.

"Farmer? Birdlady? Sculptor? Fisherman?" She called out every villager's name as she walked into every small hut of the village, searching for anyone that she knew would know the whereabouts of Jak and Daxter. She searched in every corner of every hut of the entire village, yet not a single soul was present to respond to her. Sandover Village was desolate.

Keira rushed towards the west end of the village, towards her father's hut, the largest one in the village. She first walked into the bottom floor of the hut, which was her old garage. In that garage, she saw a younger version of herself constructing the A-Grav Zoomer, which would eventually become a common commodity in the universe. After scanning through all her old notes and diagrams, she diverted her attention to the top floor of the hut, which was her father's observatory. She rushed up the steps and then slowly snuck inside the door.

"Daddy?" she piped softly, as she tiptoed into her father's observatory. She looked around the room, and noticed that the plants were dead, the floor was unkempt, the walls were beginning to crack and decay, and the warp gate was no longer functional. There was no sign of her father, and she began to pant with panic. She looked to her right and veered toward a window that was looking out into the only place within her world that posed with true danger. She looked out beyond the horizon of the Forbidden Jungle, towards the ancient Precursor Temple that stood in the center of it.

'_That must be where they all are…'_ she thought to herself.

With haste, Keira ran out of the Green Sage's former home and sprinted past the Farmer's house and the extinct Precursor Oracle to hop on the path that led to the entrance of the Forbidden Jungle. When she stood at the entrance of it, a whole host of diverse and dangerous creatures (including Lurkers, snakes, massive mutant killer frogs, spiders, armadillos, piranhas, and killer eagles.) stared at her with gleaming yellow eyes of anger. With a sense of serenity, she closed her eyes and stood towards them with defiance. She drew her light saber, and charged forward at them.

Swinging and striking at every creature that dared attacked her with full force, Keira fought her way through the ambush of the Forbidden Jungle virtually unscathed. She came across a ledge that was parallel with the entrance of the temple. However, she looked down from the cliff and saw remnants of a Precursor bridge that were lying on the river. She knew that Jak once activated that bridge using blue eco from the vent behind her. The problem was, the blue eco vent wasn't activated, and there was no cap on it.

"Strange…" Keira said to herself, "normally uncapped eco vents should run." After she said this, she saw and angry army of creatures chasing after her. So without hesitation, Keira closed her eyes and reached her hand out towards the pieces of the bridge, concentrating on them by way of the Force. It took a while, but eventually a conduit of blue eco energy streamed from her fingers, which levitated the pieces of the bridge. When the bridge came together, she opened her eyes and turned around, noticing that the pack of creatures had her within sight. She rushed across the bridge, (which had each individual piece dropping to the ground as she sprinted over it, causing the hungry animals to stop at their tracks) and used The Force to open the Precursor door that led her inside the temple.

Keira looked around the Precursor Temple and noticed that there were three long corridors that were dark and desolate. She ignited her light saber and used it as a torch to illuminate the dim hallways. The first hallway she took was the one on her left, which led to the long-extinct, shriveled and dry dark eco plant. There was no sign of anyone. She walked back and detoured toward the hallway on her right, which led to the non-functional blue eco generator.

"So this is why the blue eco vents aren't running," Keira hypothesized, "there's not even any blue eco to flow through the generator itself! This is strange…" She turned around and walked back to her starting point. She walked straight forward into the path that she had not taken; a path that led to an elevator that went only up…

Keira retracted her light saber once she stood in the elevator as it went up. She then opened a door once it stopped. She walked in, and all of the sudden things looked different. The floors and walls were not made of Precursor material, but rather a purple carpet with intricate patterns surrounded by white concrete walls and windows. She was confused. She thought to herself, _"How do I go from a Precursor Temple to a place that's more…regal?' _There were several hallways she could take to explore this new realm, but she overheard two people talking behind closed doors on her left. She tiptoed towards the room, and opened the door.

When she opened the door, she saw what looked to be her parents at about her age, leaning on each other shoulder to shoulder on the balcony, with a glass window that separated them from the real world of what appeared to be Coruscant. Eva looked exactly the way Keira saw her in her visions: long, dark teal hair, a white angelic gown, a silver tiara, and long white gloves. However, young Samos looked completely different from when Keira ever saw him. For starters, his skin was not green yet, and he was a lot taller and had a significantly noticeable muscular build. He was wearing a sleeveless brown tunic, with brown pants and boots. His hair was short with a dark-brown hue. Keira also noticed that his bifocals were absent, and that he had a small ponytail sticking out of the back of his head, as well as a thin braid dangling down his right shoulder.

"Way to accessorize, _Dad,_" Keira joked to her father, but for some reason he could not hear her. She tried again with a joke, "Mom really dressed you up nice for the wedding! Are you sure you're not the bride?" Again, no response from the Jedi that would become a Sage, who had his eyes closed.

"Concentrate on that fruit basket," Young Eva whispered to her apprentice, who was levitating a fruit basket up using his mind. "Higher…" she told him as he lifted it up more. "Higher…" she said once more. She concluded "and…drop it!" Young Samos opened his eyes, and the fruit basket fell down several stories until it landed on the streets.

Someone from the street level started yelling, "Whomever you kids are dropping fruit baskets on top of my head, I'll find you! You won't get away with it for long! I'll call the Senate to dispatch officers to jail your pesky asses!"

Young Eva and Samos then exploded with laughter, collapsing onto the ground. Keira witnessed this, and giggled along with them after they committed their foolish prank. _'That's something Daxter would pull,'_ She thought to herself, then she realized, "That's right! I have to go look for them!"

Just when she turned around to exit the room, she heard her father speak, "You sure are good with pranks, Eva. For a well-disciplined Jedi Master I mean." Keira turned around and looked at them. They were sitting next to each other with their backs against the wall, looking at each other deeply.

"I'm sometimes a little too disciplined," Young Eva said to Keira's father, wrapping her arm around his shoulder, "that's why I spend so much time with you, my apprentice." They looked at each other, leaned in, and kissed.

"She's just like me." Keira whispered to herself with a tear streaming down her eye as she looked at her youthful parents.

Nervously, Young Samos broke off the kiss and stood himself up. Young Eva slowly got up and asked him softly, "What's wrong?"

"Are you sure all these years of training are going to work for me?" Young Samos inquired.

"I'm sure all of it will pay off," Young Eva replied, "but you shouldn't be thinking about using the Force to find the secrets of the Precursors, you should be more concerned with using the Force to help the galaxy out by unlocking the secrets of the Sith."

"I feel like the only ones that are going to save the galaxy will be the Precursors, not just us." Young Samos argued as he turned around and paced towards Keira's direction, "Besides, I don't know why the Jedi Council doesn't trust me? I've been your Padawan for I don't even know how long, and I haven't even been granted the rank of Master! There are at least twenty Jedi Knights that have transitioned into Jedi Masters that are at least ten years younger than me, and I'm much more powerful than all of them combined!" He stood parallel to Keira with his arms folded and his head bowed. Keira let out a soft gasp of shock once he heard all of this.

Young Eva crept up to him and wrapped her arms around Young Samos' back and whispered, "Have faith, my love. You'll be granted master sooner than you think. I think if you let go of this obsession of finding the Precursors, maybe they'll give you the title that you deserve."

"Are you sure that the council does not know that we are in love?" Young Samos inquired.

"No," Young Eva replied, "I can sense that they are unaware of our affair. However, I do know that this yearning to search for a power that could be impossible to reach can lead to a path to the Dark Side. So I must be careful when mentioning The Precursors to the Council."

Young Samos turned around and bowed, "I understand, Master."

"Master Larude!" A voice suddenly bellowed from outside the room.

"Oh no," Young Eva panicked, "It's the Senator!"

"Not him again!" Young Samos complained.

"Palpatine…"Keira growled as she hid behind the wall, allowing the master and apprentice to meet with the Senator, who was flanked by two Jedi Masters wearing brown robes and beige garments. One Jedi had short, dark-brown hair with a dark beard, while the other had long, dark-blue hair pinned up to a ponytail. Senator Palpatine had a young appearance with firey-red hair, and was dressed in dark-blue garments that had a regal design. Keira peeked her head out of the doorway to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Master Larude, Samos…" Palpatine began to growl at them, "You were expected at the Jedi Council fifteen minutes ago for a scheduled meeting! What's keeping you two?"

"I'm sorry, Senator," Young Eva apologized, "I was just giving my apprentice some extra lessons that will help him in combat."

"I'm sure you were, Master," Palpatine scolded, "It's not like you two are in love or anything. I've noticed that you two are translating intimate feelings with one another. I hope this is not the case, but if it is, you do realize that it is against the Jedi Code to form attachments with fellow colleagues, right? Do we need to go back to basic training to cover this lecture?"

"Look '_Senator,'_" Young Samos defended, "With all due respect, I have no idea where you come up with these factions, but I can assure you that there is nothing intimate occurring with Master Larude and I! We are simply teacher and student, and we have allotted our own time for extra lessons. Sometimes they go overtime but we cover a lot of ground-"

"Did I ask you to speak, _'Padawan Hagai?_'" Palpatine scolded him, "Ha! Look at you, I'd say it's highly embarrassing to have someone as old as you competing with Jedi Knights that are twice as young as you for the prestigious rank of master, and I know what's holding you back is this infatuation with your master!"

"THERE IS NOTHING GOING ON BETWEEN US!" The young Jedi screamed at the Senator, "Master Yoda assigned us together for HIS specific reasons only. I don't know why you constantly keep pestering us by making up these stories about us being in love! Stay out of our business!"

"Look, Padawan…" The Senator growled, "everything that happens in the Jedi Order concerns everyone and everything in the galaxy, which includes the Galactic Republic, and by extension, the Senate, which I happen to be a member of. So yes, your business is my business. I know that you two are forming a forbidden affair, and when I have the evidence that backs up my claim, I will be sure to have the both of you expelled!"

"I'd like to see you try, Palpatine." Young Samos growled. He exited the room with his master and the two Jedi companions that witnessed the exchange.

"Don't worry about the Senator, my friends," The bearded Jedi consoled them, "I'm not sure where he gets that ramble from."

"Besides," The ponytailed Jedi added on, "I'm sure Master Yoda will understand. He has a great mission planned for the four of us!"

With that, Keira took off and exited towards the door that the four Jedi departed from. Just before the Senator exited the room, the door shut in front of him, and Keira stopped in her tracks. She immediately felt fear running through her veins.

"It appears we have…company." The Senator growled as he turned to face Keira. The scenery changed from purple and white to black and red, and the Senator rapidly increased his age, and black robes materialized to wrap around the regal garments he was once wearing underneath. He covered his scalp with a dark hood, and his eyes changed from ocean blue to fire-red and yellow. Palpatine hissed, "Eavesdropping on private conversations, are we?"

"What?" Keira piped, confused, "How do you notice me, but not them? This is MY dream! Not yours!"

"Be careful what you hear, Jedi." Palpatine scolded, "If you discover too much, you will find that your past has deceived your own destiny!" He then unleashed flashes of lightning from his fingers and aimed them at Keira. She fell on her back and screamed of pain and fear as the lightning currents stunned her whole body.


	20. Chapter 20: Tatooine

Chapter 20: Tatooine

Keira shrieked in horror as she woke up. She sat herself up quickly and continued to scream, which waked up the whole crew of the Renegade. She panted, and had tears rolling down her cheeks. Her hair was frizzled, and her eyes were bloodshot red. Jak woke from his wife's terrifying scream, and was quick to wrap his arm around her shoulder. Tess shrieked in response to all of this, as Daxter clumsily fell from his small hammock

"Keira!" He yelled out of sympathy as he was embracing her, "What's wrong?" She then proceeded to bury her head underneath his chest and sobbed profusely. Jak wrapped his arms around her back, rubbed it softly, and coddled her, rocking her back and forth slowly. "Shhh," he cooed, "don't worry. The nightmare's over. Everything is gonna be all right."

"What's the matter, baby?" Daxter spoke to Keira as he hopped on to the bed. He continued mischievously, "Night terror's buggin' ya? No worries! Nothin' a little 'Orange Lovin' can't fix." Jak smacked him off the bed with the back of his hand, and Daxter fell hard on his back. "JAK!" he exclaimed, "I was just kidding!"

Suddenly, Ratchet and Mace Windu rushed into Jak and Keira's room. Panicked and concerned, they opened the door and entered. Ratchet shouted to Jak, "Jak! Keira! Everything all right in here?"

"We heard some loud commotion going on, and it woke us all up." Master Windu included, "And frankly, we're quite concerned that you two were hurt."

"Everything's all right, guys." Jak rejected, "We're all alive here."

"Are you sure?" Windu continued suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. "I can sense your fear for one another. I wasn't able to until just now."

"I said, everything's fine!" Jak turned his head around and retorted. His eyes turned black for a brief second and went back to normal. Windu noticed.

"If he says everything's fine, then we shouldn't bother them." Ratchet instructed the former Jedi Master. He turned to Jak and Keira, "We just wanted to check up on you guys. Let us know if you need anything."

"Some peace and quiet would be great," Jak talked back to them, "thanks." Ratchet and Windu stepped out of the room, shut the door, and left. Once they departed, Jak cupped Keira's shoulders and looked at her, still sobbing uncontrollably. Regardless, he asked his wife, "Keira, what's going on? Are you all right?"

She sniffled, looked up, and wailed, "Oh, Jak! It was horrible!"

"What was horrible?" he asked.

"The dream I just had!" Keira exclaimed, "It was probably worse than all of the ones you had."

"Come on," Tess began to exclaim as she hopped on the bed, "Tell us!"

"It was horrifying," Keira told them all, "I'd rather not explain."

"Look," Jak began to plead, "We're never gonna know what's really wrong with you until you tell us. No one else has to know. You can trust us."

"Okay…" Keira began reluctantly. She began to tell them everything that happened in her dream. She told them how she woke up on Sentinel Beach, searching near and far all around there, Sandover Village, and the Forbidden Jungle, in search of everyone she knew. Then she told them that she saw her parents teaching each other the Jedi ways, and frolicking with intimacy. She told them how Palpatine interrogated and bullied both of them, threatening them to bring them forward to the Republic for severe punishment. Then she broke down in tears as she was telling them how that very same Senator that ostracized her parents tortured her with cold words of fear and hot pulses of lightning. She concluded, "He told me that my past has deceived my own destiny.'"

"What?" Jak asked out of confusion from the last part.

"Old greenie? Mackin' on a hot babe!?" Daxter shouted with disgust, "YUCK! Can you imagine what that image must look like? An angel and tree stump!? TOGETHER!? Since when did toe fungus ever become attractive?" He turned to Keira, "Baby, I feel bad for ya!"

"I don't understand," Jak continued to formulate, "How can your past, a past you never even knew about, affect who you are now, and what you will be?"

"I don't know, Jak," Keira retorted, "It happened to you, remember?"

Then Jak remembered, of his younger-self unleashing the Precursor Stone, which wiped out the Metal Heads. How his best friend fell into a pool of Dark Eco, which would cause a chain of events that would change his life forever. How he discovered his father raised him as Mar, which could be THE Mar. Too many thoughts were rushing through his head, and his past was harming him.

"Yes," he said softly, "I remember now." Then he stood up and declared, "Obviously, this Palpatine guy is a pest. He's hurt your father, your mother, and now you. I won't have this. I say we hunt him down and stop him once and for all! He has already crossed the line by hurting you. He's obviously alive, and he is somewhere out there causing us all this pain. He's messing with the wrong guy for this."

"Jak, it was only a dream," Keira assured him, "Besides, I'm not sure how you know he's alive. I'm just more concerned of what he told me."

"He's alive. I guarantee it." Jak confirmed, "Why would he go out of his way to harm you in your sleep? Because your Samos' daughter, the Jedi he hated worst of all."

"Not that I can blame that Senator much," Daxter chimed in. "He was always a grumpy old stump who never wanted to deal with anyone."

"In my dream, he was the exact opposite," Keira replied, "He was a lot different. Taller, leaner, more powerful, much like a hero."

"Then how did he turn into an angry lima bean with toe jam for hair?" Daxter quipped.

"I don't want to know," Keira spoke fearfully, "But what I do know is that we should focus on the task at hand. We need to find all of that dark eco the Empire has and destroy it."

"Really! Like we haven't received that message already!" Daxter yelped sarcastically.

"And I need to find the rest of my family," Jak included, "Hopefully, all of the secrets we discover can not only lead us to Vader, but to this Palpatine guy too."

"You think he has some connection with all of this going on?" Keira asked.

"Someway, somehow. I sense it," Jak answered, "and it's not pretty."

Then, Ratchet barged through the door and informed the rest of the crew, "Hey, guys! Wake up! Get dressed! We're closing in on our destination in just a few minutes!"

"Tatooine," Jak whispered to himself, then turned to Ratchet, "We'll be right on over there." The hero turned to all of his companions and declared, "Keira's right. We can't worry about the past, or in our dreams. We have to concentrate on the here and now, which means doing what we do best. The rest will take care of itself." Jak then kneeled toward his wife, cupped her chin, and looked deep into her emerald eyes. He told her, "Don't worry, we'll take care of the Empire soon enough. Your troubles will be wiped away. I'll make sure no one hurts you ever again." He kissed her on the forehead, and departed to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

Jak, and Keira walked out onto the cockpit of the ship in their normal attires, while Daxter and Tess were on their shoulders dressed like they normally do. Mace Windu and Ahsoka Tano followed closely behind them. They all approached Ratchet and Clank, who were manning the controls of the ship.

Ratchet then proceeded to pull the Renegade out of hyperdrive and within orbit of Tatooine. The planet itself looked nothing like a planet at all. From the outside it looked like a brown gas giant. However, once the ship reached within its atmosphere, it was a planet full of horror, a horror that each member of the crew knew all too well.

"Huh," Ratchet began as he looked down onto a small city outside his window, "Mos Eisley Spaceport looks to be crawling with Imperials. We can't land anywhere near there." As he was diverting the ship away from the spaceport, he turned to the crew, "I don't think Clank or I need to tell you guys how treacherous this place is. It's an area you're all familiar with."

"But we've never been here before." Jak argued.

"No," Ratchet continued, "but you've survived in an area like this, haven't you?"

The Renegade landed in the middle of a barren desert under the sweltering and blazing sun of Tatooine. The crew walked out of the ship and scanned the area near and far. They were surrounded by nothing but winds churning up sand, and dry, dirty air. Ratchet was right; this was an area that Jak, Daxter, Keira, and Tess knew all too well.

"Well, would you look at that?" Daxter chimed, "It looks just as dry, dirty, and nasty as the wastelands back home!"

"Told you." Ratchet confirmed.

Placing the familiarity out of his mind, Jak declared, "We should probably get moving; but who's going where?"

"I'll take the others with me to the city to search around for the supplier that has all the dark eco shipments," Keira instructed, "Jak, you go out there and find the rest of your family, and see if they want to come with us."

"Once again, being your friend SUCKS!" Daxter whined to Jak, "I wanna participate in the drug bust!"

"No one said you had to come with me, Dax." Jak talked back to the ottsel.

"No one should have to ask," Daxter replied, "It's just that you wouldn't last a second without me!" He crawled up to Jak's ear and quietly quipped, "Oh, and I actually left a tissue box in the glove compartment too."

"Glove compartment?" Jak asked suspiciously.

"Oh, he didn't tell you?" Ratchet intruded, "Good thing it was still a surprise. Everyone, come check out what's hangin' around in the cargo bay!" Everyone in response became curious. They walked around the perimeter of the ship while the rear hatch dropped a giant ramp from the bottom floor. They walked up the ramp and feasted their eyes on three glorious automobiles. They each looked to be the same model of a polished and brand new sports car. One car was royal blue with yellow striped patterns on the fenders, doors, and quarter panels. There was a purple one with the same exact teal patterns, and then there was a black car with the same silver patterns. Jak and Keira were the most intrigued out of all of them.

"Wow, Ratch," Jak chuckled with joy and amazement, "When did you find the time to build all of these?"

"Quite a bit actually," Ratchet replied, "I spent a lot of time building these things perfect for you guys, and I saved them for quite a bit inside this ol' girl for when you guys were gonna need it!"

"Thanks!" Jak accepted, "These things look fast standing still."

"I tested all of these before I loaded them up." Ratchet continued, "I made deep runs in the desert for artifacts back home just to try them out. These babies are fast indeed, but just wait until you see what's inside." Ratchet opened up the hood of the blue-and-yellow car and motioned everyone to look inside. Everyone gasped in awe.

"They all have the same specifications," Ratchet continued, "and they're by far the greatest things I ever built! 427 HP small-block engine, eight cylinders with the best grade of motor oil lubricating those performance pistons, titanium shocks with dual-shock springs, semi-automatic blasters with unlimited ammo on the hood, yellow eco heat-seeking missile launchers on the quarter panels, red eco grenade launchers on the deck lid, blue eco thrusters, a dark eco peace maker on the roof, a rear turret cannon right by the rear window, several green eco health packs, and an emergency nanotech shield generator. It's a lot to take in, but you'll need a lot to survive driving out here in this galaxy."

"Very nice!" Keira applauded, "You've really outdone yourself, Ratch. I couldn't have done it better myself."

"I kinda stole the ideas from your notebook," Ratchet admitted, "So even though you don't know it, you had a lot to do with it!"

"I hate to be a skeptic about all this," Ahsoka interfered, "but how are we going to get fuel into these cars where there is no fuel to get on this desert rock?"

"To answer your question, Ms. Tano," Clank replied, "The fuel cells and fuel relay systems are full of a type of ethanol fuel blended with light eco. The light eco in the fuel itself causes the particles to regenerate themselves while the car is running. It's a constant eco current that will keep the vehicle in motion as long as the engine is generating power. So these vehicles will never run out of fuel!" Keira nodded of amazement when she heard this.

"Okay," The pessimistic Togruta continued, "But what about these tires? Surely they can't last even a mile out here given the desert terrain."

"Actually, they can!" Clank confirmed, "These tires are made up of a unique tread compound that can obtain grip from any type of surface. It will give the car optimal traction on ice, rock, dirt, or even sand. The rubber for these tires was chemically enfused with a red eco solvent before they were solidified and shaped to be mounted on these cast-iron rims. The red eco particles within these tires gives the rubber approximately five times the strength a normal tire would have, so they are virtually indestructible from any puncture, impact, or blast."

"In short," Ratchet concluded, "The only way to stop these babies, are to shoot them down!"

"So…they're not indestructible?" Ahsoka inquired.

Ratchet pinched his forehead, groaned, and agitatedly retorted, "Indestructible enough!" Then he turned to Jak as the blue car opened the door vertically. He asked him, "So, do you wanna take this baby for a spin, padre?"

Like a kid in a candy store, Jak excitedly hopped in the driver seat, while Daxter crawled into the rear turret. He replied, "Do I ever!? These things are amazing!"

"Just wait until you take them into outer space." Ratchet chuckled.

"Outer space?" Daxter asked excitedly, "You mean these are star fighters too!?"

"I've already spoiled too much." Ratchet replied.

"Sorry to rain in on all the excitement," Keira interrupted, "but how are we going to go into the city without being caught? Wouldn't they recognize us?"

"Looks like you never really done undercover work before," Ahsoka replied, "So I'll teach you the art of deception." She winked, and they bumped fists.

"But it wouldn't hurt if tried on some disguises so we can go unrecognized," Ratchet disagreed, "We're all being hunted, especially you, Keira. The Empire wants you and Jak the most out of anyone right now. I think I have some elegant garments that you ladies can put over your clothes, so that way it's easy to get in and out of. Windu and I will take care of ourselves." Ratchet and Clank exited the ramp and departed towards the bow of the ship.

Keira approached Jak first and advised him, "Hey, be careful out there. I know you've been on desert runs before, but it doesn't hurt to remind you."

"Be sure to give me an update on what happens with those eco shipments. I want to know everything you discovered." Jak advised back.

"I will," Keira accepted. She gave him a small peck on the lips, rubbed his arm, and told him, "I love you, so much."

"I love you too." Jak quietly replied as Keira walked away.

Ahsoka was the next one to approach Jak before he left. She advised him, "Hey, I've been on this planet before, and it's far from pretty. Aside from the terrain and the sandstorms, you'll have to watch out for the Tusken Raiders."

"Tusken Raiders!?" Daxter chirped, "Why doesn't that sound right?"

"Yes," Ahsoka continued, "They are fierce, beastly, and detestable creatures that inhabit all barren areas of this planet. They wear brown masks and robes to protect their identity. They travel in large tribes, or sometimes go solo. They hide out on the rocks and snipe for intruders, or attack lone travellers head on. They are unpredictable, and deadly."

"Good thing we're not lone AND helpless," Jak affirmed, "I'll see what I can do about these guys. We've fought metal heads and dark makers in the desert before, but we'll be prepared for anything. Thanks, Ahsoka." With that, she nodded, and walked away.

The last person to approach Jak was Master Windu. He asked him, "Are you sure you can brave this desert alone? If you need my help, I'll be more than happy to go with you."

"No thanks. I'll be fine." Jak rejected.

"But I fear by searching for the remainder of your family on this planet, it will take quite an emotional toll," Windu continued, "If handled improperly, it could lead you into a great deal of anger, and that's a dangerous path. I feel that you need someone with experience in dealing with these emotions, so that you keep yourself in check."

"_You won't be needing him,"_ A voice whispered in Jak's head. Jak knew immediately who it was. The voice continued _"I will guide you through this process, and I will teach you how to face darkness."_

Jak replied, "Thanks for the offer, I appreciate it, but I think I can handle it on my own."

"Do you even know where to go?" Windu asked.

"I'll just have to rely on my training," Jak affirmed, "and trust my instincts."

"If you insist," Windu solemnly accepted, then grimly continued, "be careful out there. You never know what you may find about your past. You may find that your past can cloud your destiny." He finished, and walked away. Jak drew a worried look as he watched Master Windu pace back down the ramp.

Jak turned to Daxter, "That's the same exact thing the Emperor said to Keira!"

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, buddy boy," Daxter rejected, "But now you need to light this baby up and run it to the ground!"

"Sounds good with me!" Jak shouted with a defiant scream of excitement. He flipped all of the switches on, and pressed the ignition button. The engine roared, causing Jak to grin. He threw the blue-and-yellow vehicle in reverse and backed the car out into the open desert. Once he stopped it, he closed his eyes. He saw flashes of a little boy, with tears streaming down his face, running up to an older woman and hugging her. Due to their raggedy appearances, Jak first assumed that the woman with dark hair was his mother, and the sandy little boy with the bowl-cut was his brother. The next thing he saw was a band of Tusken Raiders attacking the defenseless woman, apprehending her, scarring her, and forcing her scream and cry with pain. They carried her far away into the deep desert, into a small village secluded by cliffs and rocks. The last image Jak saw was the now older woman, tied onto wooden support beams inside one of the huts, and closing her eyes in peace.

Jak suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, "I know where to go!" Then he slammed his foot on the gas pedal and shoved it all the way to the floor. The rear tires kicked up dust, and then launched the car into the deep desert, below the sweltering and blazing sun, vanishing beyond the horizon.


	21. Chapter 21: In Which We Discover

Chapter 21: In Which We Discover…

The remaining two cars rolled up slowly across the desert and parked casually on the outskirts of Mos Eisley Spaceport. Ratchet and Mace Windu, adorned in Storm Trooper uniforms that they scavenged from Coruscant, both climbed out of the driver side of the cars. They walked to the passenger side of each car, and took Keira and Ahsoka by the hand, respectively. Keira and Ahsoka were wearing matching regal blue garments that shrouded over their normal attire, and they were adorned by some of Coruscant's most precious golden jewelry. Once they walked into the city, the cars were cloaked with invisibility, making it impossible for any Imperial Trooper to track them.

Keira and Ahsoka were playing the roles of rich and snobby investors that had standoff, diva-like personalities, while Ratchet and Windu were simply playing the roles of Imperial Storm Troopers escorting them. Tess was playing the role of a pet meerkat hidden underneath a fuchsia shroud. The mission was to gain unlimited access to the dark eco shipments without blowing their cover. It would be a difficult task for them, but the actors are more than eager to play their parts.

Keira whined, "Ugh! I don't get why we have to look for all the rich stuff on this desert rock! This blows!"

"Totally," Ahsoka concurred, "This sand is really staining my dress, and it's getting in my nails!"

"Why couldn't we just bring goggles with us?" Keira continued, "I can't even see where we're going!"

"And I'm PARCHED!" Ahsoka egged on, "How can you survive on a planet with no water!?"

Ratchet and Windu walked in front of them the entire time and listened to the exchange. They both giggled. Ratchet, carrying Clank as if he was a briefcase, turned around and whispered, "You girls are doing great. Keep it up!"

Suddenly, a trio of Storm Troopers approached them and commanded them, "Halt, Soldiers! State your purpose in this sector."

"The princesses of Naboo are here to pick up 'the package.'" Master Windu replied,

'"Package?"' the lead trooper questioned.

Ratchet answered, "They're expecting some shipments of dark eco that need to be transported back to their home planet for recreational experiments."

The troopers looked at the 'princesses', then looked at each other, and then looked towards them. They rejected, "They sure don't look like princesses that came from Naboo to me. I need identification cards and security codes from all of you!"

"Uh-oh." Keira whispered.

Master Windu then approached all three of them, waved his hand in the lead trooper's face, and commanded, "You don't need to check our identification cards."

"We don't need to check your identification cards." The trooper obeyed.

"You don't need to see the security codes for this sector." Windu commanded.

"We don't need to see the security codes for this sector." The trooper obeyed.

"You will grant us unlimited access and privileges to ALL the dark eco shipments here, and you will let us meet with your supplier." Windu commanded.

"We will grant you all unlimited access and privileges to all the dark eco shipments here, and we will let you meet with our supplier." The trooper obeyed.

"Move along." Windu commanded.

"Move along." The trooper motioned and obeyed.

With a gasp of astonishment, Keira whispered, "Wait! How did he-"

"Old Jedi mind trick," Ahsoka replied, "Classic. My master pulled that same trick on troopers and droids all the time. It's almost effortless for most people."

"Wow," Keira gasped again, "I wish I could do that!"

"You'll learn soon enough," Ahsoka began to offer, "I'll even teach you."

"That'll be great!" Keira accepted.

The three hypnotized troopers were guiding the gang to the cantina, where the supplier was supposedly hidden. They entered the cantina and bypassed the rowdy and lively scenery that took place. Several types of species were conversing, drinking, and starting bar brawls as they all proceeded to the back room of the cantina. To the right of them, the troopers opened a door that the gang all entered in. Once inside, the troopers shut the door behind them.

Master Windu instructed as he took his mask off, "We must be very cautious from this point forward. Only the Force will know what lies ahead."

Ratchet followed as he took his mask off, "Yeah, at least we know that in that basement is a giant warehouse completely full of dark eco."

"All under the captivity of the Empire," Ahsoka followed, "but the question remains; who's the mastermind that is behind all of this?"

"I would have to imagine someone that's from my home planet," Keira formulated, "but I can't really put my finger on who…"

The gang descended down the steps that led towards a steel, airtight door. Master Windu used an Imperial gate key to open the hatch that led to a large, dark, and desolate warehouse. Once they stepped inside, a series of bright lights ignited and shined upon thousands of large metal crates, all of which contained dark eco inside. Their jaws dropped, their eyes widened, and they all stood still, frozen and shock in disbelief.

"So that's all the dark eco that came from your world?" Master Windu asked.

"Yup." Keira replied.

"How does the Empire take that much dark eco in one swoop?" Ahsoka followed, "Do you know what they are using it for?"

"Dunno." Keira replied.

Then, Clank sprung from his briefcase form into his normal form. He flew to the top of one of the large crates, and used his UV lenses to scan the inner components of the crate. He scanned every inch; from the top, to the sides, and collected enough information and data he needed to know about all of these shipments.

He delivered his analysis, "According to my scans, it appears all the dark eco in each individual crate is actually sealed up in fifty individual Precursor canisters. The crates themselves are made of the highest grade of layered steel; the same steel that is used on star destroyers. However, each of these crates is coated with a reflective solvent, meaning that they are impossible to destroy. Any attempt at shooting or striking at them would backfire. Looking at the tracking codes, it says that all of these shipments are to be transported to Dromund-Kaas, the planet that has held Empire's main military base for thousands of years. They are scheduled to be shipped out of here in approximately two hours."

"So now what do we do?" Ratchet inquired.

"We wait," Keira replied, "until the transport that is scheduled to arrive here. Then we play it by ear from there." She turned to Clank and instructed him, "Clank, I'd like you to deliever these findings to Ashelin and the others. The sooner they get this, the sooner they can travel to this military base and intercept all of the Empire's secrets. We'll need all of them to take them down."

"As you wish, madam!" Clank obeyed.

As Clank was sending the data to Ashelin, the rest of the gang heard a maniacal cackling that came from the very far end of the warehouse. It caught the attention of all of them, especially Keira, who drew the most alarmed of them all.

"I got a bad feeling about this." Ratchet trembled.

"Me too," Ahsoka agreed, "this guy that's supplying all the eco doesn't sound very sane. It sounds like he's poisoned by all the dark eco surrounding him."

"Yeah," Keira followed, "It also sounds very familiar." She removed the regal garments that shrouded over her normal attire, and slowly walked closer towards the back of the warehouse. As the others followed her close behind, the hysterical giggling intensified more and more, until they approached behind an old man that was controlling all of the dark eco. Currents of dark eco energy was flashing wildly on the desk he was sitting in front of, just like his white hair was. Keira observed that there were two pipelines of dark eco fluid that were chilled in a massive incubator that crystalized all of the fluid. The crystals were then all placed in small canisters, and transported into one of the giant crates. It was a massive factory of terror, and this slender old man was operating it all. He wore nothing but brown overalls and boots, and had his right forearm replaced with a red mechanical hand, similar to the one that Master Windu has. He sensed the intrusion, and sprung up from his chair. His stunned countenance displayed pale, purple skin, blue goggles that had a series of unique lenses, and a long goatee that extended to the floor. When Keira saw his face, she knew exactly who it was.

"TYM!?" She exclaimed in shock.

"KEIRA!" The old man screamed in reply.

"You know this guy!?" Ratchet chimed in. That caused Tym to draw his eyes towards him and Master Windu, still adorned in storm trooper attire. He scurried in fear underneath the desk, and dragged his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and shivering with horror.

"Please…K-K-Keira…" Tym whimpered, "D-Don't hurt me! P-P-Please! I-I-I-I Know I'm behind schedule and all, but don't kill me, please! I'm almost done!"

"What are you talking about!?" Keira asked, confused.

"What am I talking about!?" Tym repeated, "You work for, for, t-them!" He pointed his asthmatic arm at Windu and Ratchet, "The Empire! They captured you back at home, didn't they!? And now you're part of their forced labor trade!"

"WHAT!?" She shrieked.

"Look buddy," Ratchet interrupted, "Have you ever seen a lombax as a storm trooper before?"

"He doesn't even know what a lombax is!" Ahsoka included.

"Sorry for trying to help." Ratchet talked back.

"Look Tym," Keira persuaded, "we got chased out of home too. We narrowly escaped from the Empire's clutches. We only disgused ourselves in Empire attire to get past their security checkpoints. We've come here to find these shipments so we can destroy them before the Empire uses all the dark eco from our world for whatever they're going to use all of it for. You'll have to trust us, Tym. We're here to help you."

Tym crawled out from underneath the desk, stood himself up, and approached to Keira. He asked her, "And why should I trust you, child?"

"Because," Keira answered, "You trusted us when we saved you at The Brink, right?"

He smiled, nodded slowly, and piped, "Well, I can't let you destroy it!"

"Say, what!?" Ratchet yelled.

Tym explained, "You see, all of these shipments of dark eco are actually not going with the Empire. Instead, they're going to my actual employer."

"Who's that?" Keira asked.

"A gang lord by the name of Jabba The Hutt," Tym replied,

"I know that name," Ahsoka whispered to herself.

"All too well." Master Windu softly followed.

Tym continued, "He knew I was deployed out here on this desolate rock and offered to liberate me from the Empire's control if I were to help him smuggle these shipments away from them."

"Why does he need them?" Ratchet inquired.

"Well," Tym answered, "He wouldn't say who he was giving them too, but lets just say that he's helping someone from somewhere build an army that is capable of overthrowing the Empire. The secret ingredient that Jabba's "client" needs is dark eco to supply all the necessary firepower to ensure that the Empire will destroy them once and for all!"

Ratchet approached to Tym with a pistol in his hand, raised an eyebrow, and followed, "I think you're lying. If you say that you're REALLY working against the Empire, then how come you don't know where all of this eco is really going to, who's getting it, and what it's actually being used for?" Tym whimpered and shivered, which provoked Ratchet to point his weapon at him. He growled in demand, "I suggest you formulate a good answer, pal."

Keira ran in between them and face Ratchet. She pleaded, "Wait! Ratchet, please don't! Tym is telling the truth!"

"How can we trust him!?" Ratchet retorted, "He's a dark eco sage that's working with the Empire!"

"BECAUSE I CAN SENSE HIS FEAR FOR THEM!" Keira screamed back.

"Oh, please!" Ratchet rejected.

"No," Master Windu calmly intruded, and approached all three of them, "She's right. I can sense his fear too. He has a deep fear and a deep hatred for them, as if they scarred him, forcing him to join them."

"They tortured you with dark eco to make you into a sage again, didn't they?" Keira asked.

Tym whimpered and nodded, then fell to his knees and cried, "Where is our hero!? Where is the one that can prove to the universe that a balance of dark and light eco can save all of mankind!? WHERE IS JAK!?" He planted his face to the ground after he offered his pleading.

Keira knelt down to pick him up off the ground and calmly whispered to him, "Don't worry. He's here on this planet. He'll meet up with us soon…"

Meanwhile, Jak and Daxter were roaring through the desert inside their own vehicle, and they were intercepted by several groups of Tusken Raiders. Jak tested every single artillery feature that the automobile had in it's disposal, and both he and Daxter were satisfied with the fact that a band of Tusken Raiders were no match for the one vehicle that they drove.

"Hah!" Daxter chortled inside the rear turret as he was blowing enemies out of the sky, "These Tusken Raiders are complete wimps compared to the marauders we had to deal with back home! I sure am thankful that only a part of our planet was a barren wasteland like this one!"

"This desert kinda reminds me of Spargus though." Jak replied in a forlorn tone.

Once all of the Tusken Raiders chasing them were destroyed, Daxter crawled up to the passenger side seat and spoke to Jak, "You miss Damas, huh?"

"How could I not miss him?" Jak retorted, "He's my father."

"It sucks that he died not knowing that you were his son all along." Daxter told him.

"Oh he knew," Jak disagreed, "I know he did."

"How could you be so sure?" Daxter asked him.

Jak was in deep thought for a brief moment. He didn't want to dispel anything that he saw in the Jedi Temple to Daxter. _'He wouldn't believe me,' _He thought to himself, '_but I can't lie to him, either. He's the closest thing to family I got. Him and Keira both.'_

Jak replied, "Through The Force, Dax. Through The Force." Daxter scoffed in reply. Soon, Jak would see a small hut stranded in the middle of the desert. To the right of that hut, he saw a small headstone. Once he saw that faint image, the visions haunted him yet again. He saw the same little boy he saw earlier, hugging the same woman that appeared to be his mother. He saw the Tusken Raiders capture her, and tie her away in one of their huts, torturing her, whipping her, and breaking her down to the lowest point of weakness.

That last image caused him to spin the vehicle, stop it once it reached near the hut, and shut the car down. He hopped out of the car and sprinted to the tombstone. Daxter would follow. Once Jak stood directly paralleled to it, he felt a sharp pain in his heart, causing him to grimace, wince his eyes shut, and kneel to the ground. He saw a young man, who looked to about eighteen years of age, with short blonde hair and ocean blue eyes, wearing brown garments. He barged through the very hut than an old lady was captured in. He held her, and her eyes opened up, crying tears of joy that she saw her son come back for her. When she was about to tell her that she loved him in her dying breath, she expired. That caused the young man to fill his eyes with rage. He drew his light saber, which had a blue blade that was similar to Jak's, and he used it to slay every last living Tusken villager, including women and children.

During this young man's burst of anger, Jak faintly heard the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn yell, _'Anakin! Anakin! NOOOO!'_

In that moment, Jak opened his eyes, shed a tear, and quivered, "I'm sorry, mom. I'm sorry I wasn't here to get to know you more."

"I'm sorry too, my dear." The voice of Damas appeared behind him. The aparitions of Damas and Qui-Gon appeared right behind Jak, which send Daxter to a fright.

"AAAAHHHHH!"Daxter shrieked as he scurried behind Jak, "J-J-Jak! G-G-Gh-Gh- GHOSTS!"

"It's alright, Daxter!" Jak chuckled as he stood up to face the spirits, "They're our friends. Nothing to worry about."

"Wait!" Daxter spoke to them. He turned to Damas first, "Damas? Is that really you!? You came back from the dead!?" Damas nodded, which prompted the ottsel to turn to the other ghost. He asked him, "And you're that Qui-Gon guy that Jak told us all about!?" Qui-Gon nodded. Then Daxter screamed, "Then, how are you…how am I…how-"

"Through the force, Dax. Through the Force." The two spirits replied simultaneously.

Qui-Gon then followed, "You're a Precursor, little one. You must know that being a Precursor means being in tune with the Force, just like eco."

"Oh yeah!" Daxter screamed triumphantly, and bragged, "Being an ottsel is cool after all."

They all chuckled briefly, then the ghost of Damas spoke to Jak, "A lot of pain, isn't it, my son?"

"It is." Jak said with his head hung low.

"But it is worth it," Qui-Gon followed, "You must know the part that you didn't get the chance to discover in order to find out who you really are. You see, your mother, when I knew her, was one of the kindest and most nurturing people in the galaxy, and a lot of that rubbed off on her son, your brother. After I passed, my apprentice molded him into one of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy. However, in this moment, the moment when he held your mother was the moment that changed his life forever. He became dangerous, and unpredictable, and it led to his untimely death in the clutches of Darth Vader."

"I know how he felt." Jak growled softly.

"You were angry when I passed in your arms, weren't you?" Damas asked his son.

"Yes." He replied.

"It is only natural," Qui-Gon commended him, "but that anger must be controlled in a more peaceful manner. That is part of the ways of a Jedi."

"But, how do I do that?" Jak asked them, "I mean, I can feel all the eco boiling up inside me, and I'm afraid it will force me to lose all control of myself, thus killing me. The dark eco is more potent than the light eco, and honestly, I hate being angry all the time, but sometimes I just can't help it. I just don't want to hurt anyone."

"My son," Damas consoled him, "When it comes to enemies around you, you wait to find their weakness. But when it comes to enemies within you, you must face them head-on. A man that is unable to face his fears and fight for his innocence cannot be a man at all."

"But there is a tool that can help with your conundrum, and it can help you save the universe as well." Qui-Gon offered.

"How?" Jak asked.

"The Sith were born on the planet of Korriban, thousands of years ago," Qui-Gon began, "So many dark secrets reside within a special place on that planet, called the Valley of the Dark Lords. It's where the Dark Council originated, and it is where you will find the holocron of Darth Bane, the ancient Sith Lord that started the very Sith Order that is active now. If you find the holocron deep beneath his tomb, and survive all the tests that the fallen Sith Lords will throw at you, not only will you discover the secret of immortality, but you will also be cured with your eco disease, and you will discover the secret of the Dark Side, so you can use it to destroy all evil that surrounds the galaxy, once and for all."

"But you must be cautious, my son," Damas added on. "The ancient Sith Lords will try and persuade you to fall under their clutches with their tests, and you will be lost in evil forever."

"You must go there next to attain the Secret of the Sith." Qui-Gon instructed him, "You must trust your instincts the entire time you are in the Tomb of Bane. I cannot interfere. You must create your own path to the light by using the dark."

"Sounds like tough odds. I like those odds," Jak said with confidence.

"Not to mention," Damas added on, "You must use that secret to save the galaxy, by finishing what your twin brother started."

"By destroying Vader?" Jak inquired.

"I'm not sure," Qui-Gon replied, "Do you see that as justice, or do you see that as vengeance. Do you think that is even the answer at all? Only you will find that answer yourself."

Jak thought about that statement for a few moments, and conceded, "You're right, master."

Damas departed with Qui-Gon by telling Jak and Daxter, "Now go, and tell the others what we have told you. And remember that the fate of the galaxy will always and forever be in your hands, son!"

"I won't let you guys down! I promise!" Jak shouted as he waved goodbye to them. He heard a beeping noise coming from his pocket. It was his portable holographic communicator giving him an alert. He pulled it out of his pocket, opened it, and saw a small, holographic image of Keira delivering an important message to him.

Keira spoke, "Hey, Jak! I just found a boatload of useful information about all of this dark eco and the Empire as well. It turns out that all of the eco from our world may be in better hands that we originally thought. I'm sending you the coordinates to the location where the eco is being shipped. Meet us there as fast you can! See you soon!"

"Already on my way!" Jak said to himself as the hologram vanished. He turned to Daxter who hopped on his shoulder, "C'mon, Dax!"


	22. Chapter 22: Eco Thieves

Chapter 22: Eco Thieves

"Hey! You there!" A young man ran out of his hut to confront Jak and Daxter right before they left, "What are you and your weasel doing here outside my hut!?"

"WEASEL!?" Daxter yelled defensively, "That sir, is an insult!"

"We're sorry, sir," Jak spoke apologetically, "We were just passing through and about to leave-"

"Well make it fast!" The young man interrupted, "You have no business being here on our property!"

"Owen?" a young woman carrying a crying baby walked out and called, "who's out there?"

"No one, Beru," the young man replied, "The scoundrel and his pet rat were just about to leave." Daxter growled after he said this, while Jak drew his attention at the crying infant. Once Jak looked at the child, the child stopped crying, and looked directly at him. This made Jak perplexed. He felt a connection with this child, but couldn't pinpoint on what it really is. They looked at each other funny, as if they knew each other.

"WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE!?" The man yelled. This caused Jak to snap out of it and to turn around to see Daxter already running to the vehicle. He yelled one last time "GET AWAY FROM HERE! GET OFF OUR PROPERTY!"

"I…uh…" Jak stammered as he was pacing back to the car. He panicked and finished, "I'm sorry we bothered you." He then sprinted to the car, hopped in, and drove away into the deep desert.

"What a brain wreck!" Daxter complained, "That guy was a complete piece of work! He's lucky I didn't go dark on him in that moment."

"That child they had over there," Jak began, "there was something familiar about him."

"What do you mean?" Daxter asked him to clarify.

"It looked as if that child was their son," Jak continued, "but I sensed that they adopted him somehow, like he didn't really belong with them. The connection I had with him, it felt like I was related to him!" Jak's brain was puzzled with endless possibilities. He was perplexed as to why he had a strong connection with him.

"Now you're getting all paranoid, buddy boy," Daxter advised him, "I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it. We got more important things to worry about anyway. Now let's meet up with Keira and the others!" Jak nodded, put his foot to the floor, and zoomed into the bright desert sunset.

Meanwhile, Keira, Tess, Ratchet, Clank, Ahsoka, Master Windu, and Tym were waiting for the Empire's eco tanker to show up to the dock of the underground lab. They waited in the warehouse buried underneath the desert. Suddenly, to the left of them, a lift gate opened.

"It's them!" Tym panicked and ordered, "Quick! Hide!" Everyone swiftly obeyed his orders by rushing towards the back corner of the underground warehouse. They waited silently until the Imperial officials loaded all of the dark eco tanks to their tanker. The last tanker they approached on was the very tanker that everyone was hiding behind. Just when the storm troopers were ready to load the tanker onto the forklift that would transport the crate to the tanker, Keira, Ahsoka, and Master Windu used their combined efforts of the Force to shove the tanker against the troopers and the crane, and crashed it into the machine that filtered and supplied all the eco.

"INTRUDERS!" A trooper yelled while rushing into the warehouse from the tanker. The warehouse was coated with purple smoke, making it difficult for anyone to see or breathe. Regardless, Keira, Ahsoka, and Master Windu led the charge, light sabers drawn, blocking oncoming shots from surrounding troopers. Ratchet ant Tym made short work of the remaining troopers by using the Vulcan fury and dark eco bombs, respectively. They sprinted to the open lift gate of the tanker, and rushed inside the cockpit. Keira took controls of the ship and flew it out of the underground terminal as the gate closed.

"Great!" Ratchet groaned, "No turrets! Way to go, Empire. Nice engineering."

"I guess we'll have to do this the hard way!" Keira yelled as she crashed the tanker through the closed gate. The ship flew out from a cliff and into a vast canyon territory of the planet.

Tym pulled up the coordinates to Jabba the Hutt's palace. He mapped out the route by telling her, "Jabba's palace lives far to the north, at the edge of the planet where the canyon and the desert meet."

"Let's hope that this large bird stays intact while we fly through this canyon." Keira lectured, "At least this is the only thing we have to deal with."

"It's not." Ratchet gulped. After he said this, they all heard a swarm of TIE Fighters and Imperial Shuttles shrouding over the hijacked eco tanker. While they opened fire, Tym took over the controls at the cockpit, while Keira sat on the floor, closed her eyes, and concentrated on surrounding the tanker with a large green eco shield. It took her two tries to form a small ball of eco as Ratchet and Ahsoka were frantically egging her on, but on the third try she was able to form an eco shield large enough to surround the eco tanker.

"This shield is big," Keira instructed Ratchet, Ahsoka, and Master Windu, "but it won't last long. We don't have any defense systems, so you three are gonna have to figure out a way to keep those Imperials off of us. I'll try to generate as many eco shields as I can to hold them all at bay, but we can't afford them to take back this tanker. Now move it!"

Without hesitation, Ratchet, Ahsoka, and Master Windu climbed through the upper hatch of the tanker and crawled on top of the roof of the tanker. They stood up and scanned the TIE Fighters swarming and Imperial Shuttles staged around the green eco shield. Ahsoka and Master Windu drew their light sabers, while Ratchet armed his arc wielder, ready to take the fight to the large army in the desert sky. Once the green eco shield retracted, the horde of TIE Fighters opened fire towards the trio, and the shuttles dropped waves of Storm Troopers around them.

Master Windu and Ahsoka Tano faced towards the bow side of the tanker back to back, while Ratchet, standing firm near the stern of the ship, knocked down as many TIE Fighters firing at him as he could with the gun that released a conduit of electric blue eco energy. The tanker took massive damage from the shots that the fighters fired, and it caused a leak in one of the fuel relay systems.

Alert that this occurred, Ratchet yelled at his companion, "Clank! The fuel systems have been hit! Go down there and patch everything up as much as you can before the tanker crashes!" All Clank did in response was salute, and dove down beneath the hole at the top of the tanker that led to the affected area. As he was still shooting at the remaining fighters, he radioed in his communicator, "Keira, suddenly there's a lot to do back here! Get another eco shield going, fast!"

"Working on it!" Keira replied, "Eco powers for me don't come easy on this planet, you know!"

Meanwhile, the wave of Imperial Troopers surrounded the two Jedi and opened fire. At first, Master Windu and Ahsoka stood back-to-back deflecting shots back into the other troopers. It worked until Master Windu became inflicted with one of the bullets that hit him in the leg. Ahsoka promptly flipped over Master Windu, destroyed four blasters that four troopers held by tossing her green light saber through each of them, and used the force to push them down through the lethal terrain of the mountains.

Once she retracted her blade, she turned left, and blocked a shot from a trooper. She then turned right, and blocked another one. She turned behind her, and saw another wave rush toward her. She leaped backwards over them, and they halted to shoot at her. One trooper hit her precisely in the back, and she came crashing down onto the tanker. She bounced on the roof three times before she found herself clinging onto the edge of the tanker with one hand. That allowed a trio of TIE Fighters to open fire at her. She flipped back onto the tanker to dodge them, but the next thing she saw was Master Windu leap over her and onto the second fighter.

Enraged, Master Windu threw his purple blade at the wing of the lead fighter, which spiraled and crashed into the mountains. He immediately turned around and blocked a shot from the fighter once he retracted his weapon. The fighter fired again, and with haste. He stabbed and killed the pilot flying the spacecraft, swung and the blast coming from the rear fighter, and leapt back onto the tanker. As Keira was able to cloak the tanker with another green eco shield, Master Windu landed in the middle of the remaining cluster of troopers, and they all drew their weapons at him as he kneeled. He looked up at one trooper with eyes of rage, and sprung up with his saber drawn, spinning, slicing, stabbing, blocking, and chopping any Imperial Trooper that stood in his way. The eco shield neutralized the ones that he threw off the tanker by way of the Force.

Ahsoka couldn't help but watch this entire fray take place. She saw a side to her old master that she had never seen before. She saw a Jedi Master Mace Windu full of brute aggression, anger, rage, hatred, and inner agony. As she watched him fight these troopers, she tried to formulate a good explanation as to where this newfound anger came from? Maybe something from the duel with Palpatine? Maybe during the time he went mad before the surgery? Maybe something Keira did during the surgey? She could only guess at this point.

As he was finished ravaging through the remaining storm trooper army, he turned to Ahsoka and walked towards her. He asked as he regained his composure, "Are you all right?"

"Uh..yeah. I guess I'll live." Ahsoka hesitated. She felt uncomfortable to even speaking to him after his display.

"I must say," Master Windu began to compliment, "You have vastly improved since I last saw you in combat. You've become quicker, stronger, and more powerful."

"Thank you, Master," Ahsoka accepted, "It looks like you haven't lost a beat either."

"I'm still a little rusty." Master Windu chuckled. Ahsoka scoffed of slight disbelief in response and rushed over to the gaping hole in the tanker that was producing smoke. Master Windu followed, and they both looked inside, watching Ratchet grimacing with strength as he tightens up a few bolts in the fuel relay systems with his Omiwrench, while Clank works feverishly to weld any patches that were burned open originally.

Once the work was done, and all the Imperial Forces were broken, the four of them climbed back down the hatch and rushed to the cockpit, which had Tym still piloting the ship and Keira facing them in the passenger side.

"We held them off really well," Ratchet began, "but as for the fuel leak, we patched up as much as we could. They hit us pretty good."

"We coated any of the leaks and holes produced from the damage with a silicon solution, mixed with a liquid steel alloy," Clank added on, "We lost some fuel through the damage, but we soaked up and evaporated any leaking fuel before the engines would combust and erupt."

Keira then heard an alarm on the dashboard. As soon as she turned to look at the readings, everyone else felt a huge vibration that shook the entire tanker. Keira yelped, "We lost more fuel than you guys think…"

Suddenly, the tanker nosedived and plummeted into the sand. Tym tried his best to pull up the ship that carried thousands of tons of dark eco, but to no avail. As the nose of the ship dived into the ground, a cloud of sand coated the glass, blocking any vision that Tym would have to guide the ship. As he continued to pull up on the controls to slow the ship down, it grinded slowly and surely to a complete stop. When the ship was finally at rest, the dust cloud cleared up, and the gang noticed that they stopped just short of the large entrance of Jabba's Palace. Everyone sighed of relief and accomplishment.

"Not a happy landing." Tym quipped.

"Yeah," Ratchet concurred, "At least we have all the eco left though."

"And our hero made it here just in time!" Keira exclaimed as she saw Jak's car drive through the dust in the distance.


	23. Chapter 23: The New Krew

Chapter 23: The New Krew

Jak drove up to the crash site and parked the car just outside the entrance of Jabba's Palace. Just as he and Daxter exited the car, Keira was the first to hop out of the tanker to meet them. Ratchet, Clank, Master Windu, Ahsoka, and Tess followed respectively, while Tym slowly creeped out of the tanker without Jak or Daxter noticing.

"Looks like you had a nice ride in." Jak introduced.

"It wasn't easy hijacking this big bird, believe me when I tell ya!" Keira replied.

"I bet, honey!"Daxter chimed in, "I bet those Imperial goons chased after you for stealing the goods, huh?"

"Of course they did," Keira retorted to the ottsel, "wanna see the goods?" Jak and Daxter nodded, then Keira motioned them to the back of the tanker. As they stood behind the rear door of the large and tall tanker, Keira asked them, "Guess who was the supplier after all?"

"Who?" Jak aksed.

"Guess!" Keira prodded.

"Will you tell us already!?" Daxter demanded. Suddenly, Tym popped out behind Keira and gasped with joy. Both of their jaws dropped. It was the first time that they had seen the mad dark eco scientist since their excursions on The Brink just three years prior, and they already noticed some stunning changes.

"JAK! DAXTER!" Tym shouted with glee as he gave them a bone-crushing hug. Daxter was knocked off of Jak's shoulder in the process. Tym continued with his excitement, "I'm so happy and relieved to see you both! Thank you for rescuing me from The Empire! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Tym! I…uh…" Jak stuttered as he broke of the embrace and looked at his physical changes since he last saw him. He finally came over himself to ask, "What happened to you?"

"It was horrid!" Tym wailed, "The pain, the suffering, THE TORTURE!"

"What did they do to you when they took you from home?" Jak prodded.

"I was relaxing in my lab by The Brink," Tym began, "Retired and unbothered. Then suddenly, I see a fleet of large ships deploying fighters, brutally ravaging the island. A group of Imperial Troopers led by a tall, dark man, shrouded by a black mask and cape, noticed me, my inventions, and my abilities with dark eco. He apprehended me, tortured me with the dark eco that I had, and placed me in the forced labor trade, having me trapped in a musty, dark warehouse, doing nothing but multiplying and crystalizing the very substance that almost destroyed everything that I had in the first place!"

"Vader…" Jak growled.

"You…know…him?" Tym whimpered.

Jak continued as Keira touched his shoulder, "Yes. I faced him."

Tym's eyes widened, "You stood toe to toe with that monster!? How did you do? Did you beat him? What did you use? Tell me everything!"

"Not much to tell," Jak said in a somber tone, "It didn't go well." Despite his denial, he and Keira proceeded to tell Tym everything that he missed; How the newlywed couple was called upon by The Force to use their keen knowledge of eco powers to learn the ways of a Jedi Knight, how they tried to save the city that they came from, how Darth Vader and his forces destroyed everything they had and left the people in agony, and how they have been journeying through the galaxy ever since, just to search for the secrets of their destinies, their true origins, and information about the enemies that they are facing so that they can be destroyed once and for all.

"Oh my…" Tym gasped with wonder, "So both of you are telling me that you're now…Jedi?"

"Not yet," Keira affirmed, "We still have a long ways to go before we can destroy The Empire and The Sith."

"But you can trust us now," Jak declared, "The Empire will not come to any harm to you anymore. That's a promise."

"My boy," Tym began to applaud with gusto, "if there's anyone that can stand in the face of darkness, even in it's deepest and most deadliest form, even if evil devours all that is good nine times out of ten, I know on that tenth time, you will be the light that prevails over it, and that you can use darkness for the good of others. And you, my girl," He turned to Keira, "your kindness and ingenuity will guide us through even the most arduous of times, and I know you're plenty strong enough to take on any challenge that faces you. If we are going to fight this big fight, and stand against the greatest forces of evil, then I wouldn't want to have anyone else standing by me and leading the charge, than you two."

"Thank you, old friend." Keira accepted humbly.

"Thanks buddy," Jak followed, "glad to have you along for the ride!"

"Now hold on just a moment," Master Windu interrupted the conversation, "we can't simply just trust a man who has been severely tortured by The Empire and has a keen knowledge of dark eco. He's working with the very same key ingredient that they want, and we don't know what dark eco can do to a man like him, let alone anyone at all!"

"I do." Jak grumbled as he turned his head to Mace Windu, "I also know that Daxter, Keira, and I trusted him with our lives by helping us use eco to put our world back in balance when it was in complete chaos. If he was able to help us do that, then I know that he will be a huge asset for all of us as we try to save the galaxy."

"I agree with them, Master," Ahsoka followed, "I think he'll be a huge asset for us."

"I've worked with crazy guys before, so I have experience." Ratchet added on, turning to Tym, "I may just have to keep a sharp eye on you, buddy."

Master Windu sighed and conceded reluctantly, "I guess it is settled then. We will take him along and consult him if we need his assistance. But he must remain under a watchful eye." Tym smiled and nodded, and everyone did the same with each other in accordance.

"Who goes there?" A faint, shrilled voice piped up from behind the palace walls. The voice came from a peculiarly hideous creature. He had dark, brown skin with a hunched back. Large, black moles sprouted from the very tip of his spine all the way to his midsection. He had a disfigured face that gleamed yellow eyes and riddled with horrible oral cavities. He was bald He had hangnail that grew of yellow-green fungus on his hands and toes. Everyone looked at him with countenances of confusion, surprise, disgust, apathy, and sorrow. They all assumed him to be Jabba's slave.

"Are you, Tym?" The slave approached the scientist with fervor.

"Oh, um…yes!" Tym stammered uncomfortably.

"Ah! Oh yes! Very good!" The slave violently shook his hand, and he turned his eyes to the eco tanker. He gazed at the immense vessel with wonder, "Ooh, and I see you have successfully captured all the dark eco that the Empire had!" He looked at everyone else and growled, "With the help of some friends…"

"Oh! Yes!" Tym exclaimed as he began to persuade him, "These are some friends from back at my home, where all the eco is originally from. They have volunteered in our cause to fight against The Empire! They're all smart, strong, strapping warriors, with abilities that most, if not all would consider to be…unnatural."

"Ah, so they are dangerous!" The Slave marveled, "Jabba loves dangerous people working for him. That could be useful!" The slave offered as the entrance to the palace opened, "More of Jabba's handymen will take this large vessel inside and secrete the eco into storage. In the mean time, I would like you all to follow me, so you all can officially meet the great one himself."

"This Galaxy keeps getting weirder and weirder every day." Daxter softly quipped to Jak, while Jak nodded in agreement.

The slave and Tym led the way inside, while Ahsoka and Master Windu followed close behind. Ratchet had one of his guns ready incase anything should happen, as he and Clank gave them enough space in front of them, and walked around the large hallway to scan the area. Jak, Daxter, Keira, and Tess were the most skeptical in meeting Jabba, as both Jak and Keira crept inside the dark corridor last while the two ottsels, (Daxter and Tess, respectively) perched on their shoulders.

"So what we're dealing with here," Keira began, "is the galaxy's most notorious crime boss since he had the guts to steal all the dark eco from The Empire."

"Great," Jak groaned, "another crime boss we'll probably have to do dirty jobs for. Like one wasn't enough already."

"Don't even get me started, buddy!" Daxter followed.

"Oh yeah," Keira remembered, "You guys don't wanna go through this part of the job because of your experiences with Krew?"

"No," Daxter began, "we don't wanna go through this job…PERIOD!"

Not withstanding Daxter's snide comment, she continued, "I don't blame you guys. I hated working for that slime-ball too."

"Everybody did," Jak concurred, "He burned a lot of bridges, cut a lot of bad deals, and ruined a lot of lives."

"I still don't understand how you two would ever come to terms with working for that guy." Keira told them.

"It's not like we had a choice," Jak defended calmly, "we did what we had to do to survive."

"Yeah!" Daxter continued, "and ol' five chins gave us some cool toys that were useful…until JAK got rid of them for a lite-brite!"

"Besides," Jak continued, "why did YOU end up working for Krew anyway?"

"I needed money to survive after we were brought to the future." Keira chided, "I needed to survive while I was looking for you guys."

"Well, there ya go!" Jak concluded, "You did what you had to do to survive."

"Well it doesn't matter!" Keira shouted, took a few moments to calm herself, and continued, "What matters is Krew's dead, you guys saved the city, and we are all here together as better people."

"If only I could save the city, and the planet when they needed me to the most." Jak whispered in a forlorn tone, "we wouldn't be here doing what we had to do right now."

"Hey," Keira soothed him as she rubbed his back softly, "we are here now, and you can't change the past. Neither can I. Believe me, I think of things that I could've changed that day, every day. But I can't because it happened. The only way to alleviate the damage done is do what we can to stop the enemy at its source, right?" Jak nodded, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She chuckled and continued, "Besides. This crime boss can't be that bad. He stole from The Empire, and that's an ally in my book. No one could possibly be worse than Krew!"

"He's worse…" Daxter choked up as he laid his eyes on the notorious Jabba The Hutt. Once Keira, Jak, and Tess looked at him, their eyes widened and their jaws dropped. The Hutt was a green, massive, obese slug-like creature, with a mouth that stretched from cheek to cheek, and small, yellow eyes. He had an awful stench that surrounded him, as well as two female Twi'lek slaves wearing chained bikinis fanning him. A small squadron of bounty hunters stood behind him. Everyone stopped once they stood before him.

Tym was the first person the supreme Hutt looked at as he introduced in his native language, "Ah! You must be Tym, the mad scientist that helped me smuggle The Empire's 'secret ingredient.' I also see that you've made acquaintances with a few Jedi. I love working with Jedi." He smiled ominously as he finished.

"Do any of you guys have any idea what he just said?" Daxter asked to everyone.

"Yeah, somehow I did." Keira replied.

"I did too," Jak followed, "and I don't like the way he just said what he just said…"

Ignoring the others, Daxter yelled at the Hutt, "SPEAK-A DA NORMAL LANGUAGE! OKAY!?" Giving Jabba a two thumbs up and a smile at the end.

"I'll handle this," Master Windu told them as he came forward on the crime lord's throne. Once he stood before him he threw himself on his knees and bowed, "O Mighty Jabba! It is good to see you again living happily and healthy!" Jak and Daxter rolled their eyes as Master Windu continued on, "We have come to seek you out in regards to the shipments that you have attained from The Empire. It is a new, and dangerous substance called, dark eco. Due to its unpredictable power, The Empire craves it, and it comes from the home world of Tym as well as two other powerful heroes that aid me that go by the names of Jak and Keira." He turned around and pointed to Jak and Keira. Master Windu continued, "We are not here to steal it from you, we are here to ask you what you intend to do with these shipments of eco so that we can aid your plot for The Empire's destruction."

Jabba grumbled and then initially rejected, "I don't trust Jedi when it comes to making alliances with my plans. Furthermore, I don't trust outsiders either."

"Please, O Great One!" Ahsoka came forward and pleaded, "These are our friends! They came from their home world after 'Our Galactic Empire' ruined it, thus turning them into refugees. They have the same intentions as you do. Just trust in us! We are here to help you!"

"Hmmm…." The Hutt Ganglord pondered, "What are your terms?"

"You help us, we give you a reward!" Ahsoka answered.

"How much?" He prodded.

"Does 50,000 credits sound enticing?" Master Windu requested.

"No, Jedi." Jabba rejected, "50,000 credits for a big time crime to dismantle The Empire will not even be nearly enough sufficient funds for my plans."

"Please!" Keira came forward and begged, "It's all we've got!"

"How about an additional 10,000 gold bolts?" Ratchet offered, "If you convert them to credits, I'm sure they'll be worth a ton!"

"My answer is still no." Jabba rejected once again.

"Wait!" Jak interrupted. He came forward and began to entice the crime boss, "I have something that you may like." The Hutt's eyes widened with wonder, anticipating what surprise Jak had for him. Jak reached into his holster strapped on his back and pulled out a bronze egg with ancient Precurian hieroglyphics printed all over it. "Here." He offered as the Hutt reached his arms out to touch it. He held it, gazed at it with wonder.

Jak continued, "These floating eggs are called 'Precursor Orbs.' They are not only a form of currency back on our home planet, but also one of the most common ancient artifacts scattered all over the place. I have about fifty of them and they are worth about ten credits each. And if that doesn't persuade you, I have one other artifact that will…" He reached into his holster again, and pulled out a bright, shining bronze sphere, with three small pieces of it orbiting around it rapidly.

He showed him, "These are power cells, and they are the most rare and powerful Precursor artifacts from our home world. They can power machines, weapons, vehicles, everything! I have about ten of these, a hundred credits each, and you can use them however you wish."

Jabba nodded his head slowly, clasping his hands together as if he was intrigued. After a few tense moments, he finally replied, "Your precious and rare gifts from your home world are intriguing indeed, but not enough for you to gain my trust. My final answer is no."

"Okay, that's it!" Daxter screamed furiously as he hopped down from Jak's shoulder, and walked up to the ganglord. He stood defiantly and boldly yelled, "Listen up, you fat tub of slug! I don't know what your deal is with our kind, but I don't like it! Not one bit!"

"Daxter…"Jak tried to interrupt.

"This is an outrage, Jak!" Daxter retorted, then turned to Jabba, "We're the heroes! We've been literally to hell and back, flying around this stinkin' galaxy with The Empire shooting 'lasers' at our asses, actually doing some good for the BILLIONS of wimps crawling around in the universe, including you, yourself, who can't even find the time of day to go out of the sun and do some exercising and cleaning for once in your wretched life!"

"Daxter!" Keira screamed.

Not withstanding Keira's interruption, Daxter continued on, "I don't get why you wont accept our help! We've come all this way and dealt with all of this crap just to see if we can form an alliance with your goober-eyed self, we have the same intentions as you do, and the moment you have the opportunity to help us be a part of something great, you pass up on it!? Sheesh! I've talked with brick walls that had half of the hutt-brain you do! I could run this gig better-"

Before Daxter could finish, Jabba screamed out of the top of his lungs, full of anger, and smashed a button down on his left side with his fist. That deployed a trap door underneath Daxter's feet. Daxter screamed as he dropped down the chute down a dark underground cave.

"DAXTER!" everyone screamed as he fell down. This angered Jak to the point that he drew his light saber right at the Hutt's head, with eyes glaring at him full of rage.

"You let him go…now…" Jak growled.

"JAK! CONTROL YOUR ANGER! NOW!" Master Windu screamed as he used The Force to pull Jak away from him and to restrain him. This caused Jak to reluctantly withdraw his weapon and put it away. Master Windu still held him back, regardless.

Meanwhile, Daxter lay flat, face down, in a dark, damp cave, shake, and timid. He got up, and tiptoed around the area, shivering with fear, not knowing what his punishment may be.

"Jabba? Old buddy of mine? Hehe…"Daxter began to nervously plead, "Uh…sorry about the whole 'brick wall' analogy and that 'slug with no exercise' thingy. Uhh…" The ottsel was suddenly interrupted by the sound of giant footsteps, pounding and shaking the ground violently. This caused him to stop tiptoeing, and he yelled out again, "Uhh, Jak? Guys? Can you all beg this Jabba guy to get me the hell out of here!? I feel like I should be anywhere else just about now!"

He heard no response. All he heard was the riveting thuds of the massive footsteps creeping closer and closer. He heard a giant steel gate open behind him. Out of fear, mixed with curiosity, he turned his head slowly, and looked at the beast that he was forced to deal with. He shrieked as he looked into the monster's eyes, as he ran around the cave desperately looking for an escape.


	24. Chapter 24: The Deal

Chapter 24: The Deal

The massive Rancor monster roared wildly from the dark shadows as he revealed himself, as Daxter was immediately overwhelmed by his size, strength, and terror. The monster stood at least twenty-feet tall, had large tusks, three eyes on each side of his head, and thick, bone like claws on the hands and feet of his massive frame. Daxter finally realized that not even his eight-foot dark form could outmatch the beast standing before him.

But that wouldn't stop 'Orange Lightning' from trying.

"Okay, fine…go ahead and eat me…" Daxter began dejectedly, but then gave his ottsel smirk, quickly grew into his dark form, and yelled, "IF YOU CAN CATCH ME!" The Rancor monster swiped his arm at him, as Daxter leaped to the right to dodge it. The monster then tried to grab the significantly smaller mutant ottsel, but missed as Daxter crawled up the walls of the cave and leapt to throw a ball or dark eco at the monster's eye.

While the battle of the two mutants raged on, the rest of the gang was clamoring with Jabba The Hutt, begging him to set Daxter free before the inevitable could happen.

"Why are you doing this!?" Keira began to beg, "He's just an ottsel! Sure he's a loudmouth at times but that's just who he is! Just because one of us has no boundaries doesn't mean that you should punish him and reject all of us!"

"I make no deals with Jedi," Jabba bellowed, "and I especially wish to exterminate all who dare defile me!"

Down in the pit, the Racor grabbed Daxter and threw him against the wall, but he sprung back up and boldly yelled, "IS THAT ALL YOU GOT! I'VE BEATEN LURKERS BIGGER THAN YOU!" The monster roared in Daxter's face, and he then proceeded to grab the mutant ottsel, raising him high toward the ceiling.

"Well, we're not going anywhere without our furry friend!" Tym declared, "He may be an obnoxious crazy monster, but he's just as an important piece to the puzzle as everyone else in this room!"

"Oh, so I see you wish to join him?" Jabba retorted to him.

"No one is joining him." Ratchet replied, pointing his Peacemaker at The Hutt's face. Ahsoka moved his hands down slowly.

"If he dies, I'll make sure YOU join him!" Jak screamed with anger, with dark eco crackling in his veins for a split second.

"JAK!" Master Windu yelled at him back, still restraining him to charge at Jabba.

Their hope for Daxter's wellbeing was dwindling by the minute, as the monster slowly brought the ottsel down towards his mouth. Daxter was already suffocating by the rotten stench stemming from the sewage of the Rancor's esophagus, but it wasn't distracting him in the slightest. Once the monster threw him in his mouth, Daxter used his mutant arms and legs to slowly push the jaws of death away from him. Roaring with all of their might, they both fought by literal tooth and nail for control over one another.

But up above the basement of carnivorous horrors, the bitter argument continued:

"You have no idea how important he is!" The soft-spoken Tess finally stood up to the bombastic Hutt, "Daxter was the one that made all of this happen in the first place! Without him transforming into what he is now, we would've never been brought together to do what we do now. He means everything to all of us! If you're gonna send him to his death, I may as well go with him!"

"Fine!" Jabba affirmed, "Then you'll be my Rancor's next meal. If he really is the centerpiece of your cause, then it'll be just as easy for me to exterminate all of you!"

After several moments of a struggling stalemate, Daxter finally leapt out of the Rancor's jaws, and blasted a massive orb of dark eco energy down the monster's throat. The monster roared in agony as he tumbled backward. It was at this moment Daxter knew, he could finish him off once and for all. He shoved the monster back into his dark cave by throwing more and more dark eco orbs at him; until he was fully inside the dark cage he came out of. He then used increased dark eco energy to budge the steel gate into crashing down into the ground, locking the monster inside.

Jabba heard these screams of terror and assumed that it was Daxter who was suffering a painful death. He proudly claimed to the crew "I'm sorry, but it doesn't seem like your friend will make it out alive. He is gone. Forever…" His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of soft, padded footsteps approaching the throne room down the right-side hallway. It was indeed a smaller, yet normal Daxter, swaggering with confidence by grinning a smile to everyone as he marched towards the Hutt.

He approached Jabba with gusto, "Oh yeah! That's right! Your big nasty monster was no match for the almighty power of…ORANGE LIGHTNING!" He then followed up with eccentric karate moves, including two chops and an "attempt" of the crane technique.

"Dax!" Jak exclaimed as he broke away from Windu's grasp to approach him.

"You're okay!" Keira and Tess shouted together.

"Did any of you ever doubt!?" Daxter began to brag, "I cultivated my own moves to bring that bad boy down! He wasn't as big and scary as he looked!"

"I'm sure," Jak commended, "you may need to learn how to keep your mouth shut, but you do pack a punch when it matters most. I'm proud of ya, Dax." He then keeled and gave his ottsel companion a fist bump.

Jabba then proceeded to laugh ominously and cheerfully, as he began to speak to Daxter. "Your courage has impressed me, little one. No mortal was able to take down my pet Rancor until today. You are brash, bold, brave, bombastic, and brilliant. Few of many qualities that I look for in even my most dangerous Bounty Hunters."

"He's talking about me!" Daxter exclaimed, not knowing any word that the gang lord just spoke of him. He accepted and bowed, "Thanks your slimy slugginess! That monster of yours wasn't so tough!"

The Hutt continued, "Your valiant act alone was just merely enough to change my mind at the last minute…" Everyone's eyes and ears perked out of anticipation as to what he was about to say next. The Hutt took a few moments to think of his proposition, and then declared, "All right, I accept your offer!" The crew cheered and shouted with glee, as if it seemed that they would be one step closer to reaching their ultimate goal.

However, Jabba was not going to let them off easy, "Under one condition!" He continued as everyone stopped to listen yet again, "I have one very important bet on line, and this would be the only way for you to pay me for my help…if you succeed. Pod Racing is the most popular sport in the galaxy, and the Boonta Eve Classic is the most prestigious of all Pod Races. Needless to say, it is also the most dangerous sport in the galaxy, as nearly fifty racers would enter, but only ten on average survive. However, I believe that you (pointing at Jak) would manage. All you would have to do is beat all fifty racers in the classic, collect all the prize money, and I will help you in using this dark eco against The Empire."

"And if I lose?" Jak inquired

"If you lose…" Jabba thought, "I will kill all of you Jedi, consume the animals as my meals, and use the women as my concubine slaves."

Everyone except for Jak clamored in outrageous disagreement with the Hutt's terms. They all concurred that it wasn't a fair deal. Due to the odds of even surviving a Pod Race, they all thought that Jak would have no chance of winning the prestigious Boonta Eve Classic. But Jak had other ideas.

"You're absolutely insane!" Keira came forward and stood up to the crime boss, "Asking all of us to be your pieces of meat is absolutely insane when there is little absolutely little to no chance that we could pull this off! I would know that Jak in his right mind would never-"

"Deal." Jak accepted, interrupting Keira's rant.

"JAK!" Everyone shouted in anger and agitation once he accepted his bet.

"What? Don't worry," Jak boldly began, "If there's one thing I know how to do best, It's race!"

"A bold statement indeed, Jedi," Jabba chuckled, "To make things interesting, you all have two days to prepare for the big race, using THAT pod." He finished as he pointed at a small cockpit with a rusted blue and silver paint job and a deteriorating interior. The twin turbines that supported the pod were small, broken, and powerless.

"HAH! What a runt!" Daxter complained.

"We really have no chance." Ratchet concurred.

"Do you really expect to win in this thing?" Master Windu inquired to Jak.

"I'll make it work." Jak grinned.

"How!? Keira pleaded, "You can't even fit in this rickety-old sled! Daxter would make a better pilot for this rust-bucket."

"Don't be getting any ideas, toots!" Daxter retorted, "There is NO way that I am willing to hop in that death trap with fifty other crazy lunatics!"

Jabba concluded, "My slaves will take you on a transport with the pod to a remote and abandoned village near the race track, and the village will have a garage to store the pod until race day. I would wish good luck to you, all of you, especially you, Jak. But then luck won't help you." He grinned, and slugged away with his concubines.

"Oh gee, I wonder where I heard THAT one before!?" Daxter quipped as the remaining slaves were loading the crew onto a large Jawa transport that carried all of them from Jabba's palace to an empty, lifeless village composed of small pueblos. The garage was at the very end of the village, which was where they were dropped off in the deep and cool night of the desert.

Jak was the most eager of all to open the garage while six Jawa slaves dropped the pod inside. It was a goldmine of spare parts that were worn out, which made him grin mischievously.

"And you said that I needed to keep my mouth shut!" Daxter piped to Jak, "If you didn't yap and accept the deal, none of us would be facing a certain death right now!"

"Honestly buddy," Ratchet followed, "how do you expect to win in the galaxy's most deadliest race, when you're forced to race that piece of crap?"

"You're right," Jak agreed, "He did say that this is the pod that we have to race in, but he didn't say that we can't _modify _it."

"Jak…"Keira gasped, "You're a genius! Of course he left that part out! Thinks us 'outsiders' don' t know a thing or two about mechanics. HA! We'll show him!" She paced around the garage, examining all the spare parts inside while taking her navy-blue jacket off, exposing her belly and shoulders in a sheer, light pink tank top. Keira formulated to Jak, "The most that we can do for now is fabrication stuff. I can add extra padding to this pod; making it larger, wider, and easier for you to fit in."

Clank veered over to the twin turbines and followed, "Hmm…these turbines seem to be in good condition, but they will not supply enough power to help you get the speed that you need to win. We'll have to surround these turbines with more armor, and give them larger thrust cones to supply more power. But even that won't be enough, because we don't have the modulation circuits, energy gates, or even power condensers to contain all the power we would supply."

"Good thing we have the eco to create that type of power," Keira continued, "but we need something to contain it and transport it throughout the entire vehicle. It looks like Ratchet, Clank, Tym and I will have to stay here and do all the fabrication for it. Jak, if you want to race in two days, you'll have to find all the parts that make up the power. I scanned some craters that have come from crash landings of old ships, and the parts they left behind could still be useful! Just look for any more power condensers, energy gates, and modulation circuits to power this baby up."

"The desert! Again!?" Daxter groaned with agony.

"All right if Master Windu and I tag along?" Ahsoka requested.

"Do we have to?" Master Windu argued.

"Hey, the more the merrier!" Jak accepted.

"All right!" Ratchet shouted, "All of the sudden Keira, with your mechanical skills, you can fix this baby up!"

"_WE_ will do more than fix her up," Keira clarified, "We will turn this old pod into the meanest, cleanest, and fastest flying racer on the circuit! The other competitors won't know what will hit them. It helps that we'll have a great pod, but I know with the best racer in the galaxy (winking to Jak) we'll win, but EVERYONE has to pitch in to make this happen! We can do this! Who's with me!?"

Everyone cheered for her as she finished up her speech. She then declared, "All right, let's get to it, everyone! You all know what to do!" When she finished, Jak, Daxter, Ahsoka, and Master Windu walked out of the garage and descended towards the rising sun of the desert planet, beginning their search for spare parts, while Keira, Ratchet, Clank, Tess, and Tym stayed behind, racing around the garage to grab any tools and other parts to reshape the Pod Racer.


	25. Chapter 25: Strokes Of Fear

Chapter 25: Strokes of Fear

Hours had passed since the desert planet's sunrise, and Jak, Daxter, Ahsoka, and Master Windu still had little to no luck in searching for the parts that they needed to reconstruct the pod. The group was sweating, panting, dehydrated, and exhausted. For hours and miles on end they walked along the barren sand dunes of Tatooine, yet the found nothing. Race day was looming the next day, and they knew time was running out.

"This sucks!" Daxter whined, hanging lazily on Jak's shoulder, "We've been wandering around this sand box, wasting away our lives, looking for some stinkin' pod parts that probably won't even work right! Sheesh, Jak! Why did you have to be so whipped to agree with your crazy wife!?"

"It's not being 'whipped' Daxter," Jak corrected his companion. "It's doing what we can to make this sticky situation work. The bottom line is, we need parts for the pod we have, with little resources, and not a lot of time, so we HAVE to make an effort."

"You know, the creature raises a point," Master Windu chimed in as Daxter growled, "It IS against the Jedi Code to form intimate attractions to fellow Jedi and colleagues."

"I didn't come from the Jedi Code," Jak replied, "I came from a world of democracy. A world that escaped tyranny, darkness, death, and oblivion."

"And that world was concealed from the Democratic Society of The Galactic Republic," Master Windu countered, "which is a longstanding tradition that you do not know and appreciate too well."

"How could I?" Jak argued, "Obviously, this 'Galactic Republic' of ours didn't work out so well. I mean, look what it's become now! After we destroy this 'Empire' we should reorganize the Galaxy into a society where everyone, including Jedi, don't have to be bound by a literal 'code' and experience a little bit of Free Will with _some_ rules. Don't you think?"

"Arrogant fool," Windu grumbled, "speaking from a soul that is poisoned and controlled by a darkness that you can barely control. You clearly do not understand the longstanding tradition of being a Jedi. I can see that you _WANT _to be a Jedi, but there is a difference between _wanting_ to be a Jedi and actually _BEING _a Jedi. You see, to be a Jedi, you have to stay committed to being one with the Force, and that includes remaining celibate, blocking yourself from any distractions that will steer your path into the Dark Side, including freedom, including power, and especially, including love. Distractions such as these can lead into fear, anger, hatred, and ultimately suffering, a type of suffering that can change you into a person you do not wish to become. Full of anger, twisted, evil, and _dark_."

"But Master," Ahsoka added on for a supporting rebuttal, "Jak does bring up a valid suggestion here. I mean, there have been plenty of Jedi that have broken the many rules of The Code before, and they turned out fine! Don't you think sometimes that the Jedi Code can be taken _too _literally sometimes? Can't the Jedi themselves can be _too _extreme? The rules within are code are so strict that there isn't much of a wonder that some of them turned to The Dark Side."

"And some Dark Jedi or even Sith ended up seeing the light." Master Windu argued.

"True," Ahsoka concurred, but continued, "but all I'm saying is that we should loosen up the rules of society a little bit. Let the Jedi marry others and have children, so that their legacies can be passed on from generation after generation. We can't keep heroes isolated forever; because when they break out (if they break out) they wouldn't know what to do with a world that is so unfamiliar to them. Master Yoda preached that while we have responsibilities, we do have the power to control our own path. And I believe the New Jedi Order, if there ever will be one, should allow them to express who they are freely, within reason of course, while still doing the duties for the people who can't fight for themselves, which is more than what we can count. Those people all over the Galaxy have that free will to be what they want to be, because of us! We serve them. So I believe that we should have that same right too."

"Those are the types of thoughts that can turn Jedi to the Dark Side!" Master Windu barked, stopped walking, and stood face-to-face with Ahsoka, "Now look (pointing at her), you can come up with theories of life all you want, but remember that you _chose_ the life of a Jedi. You left, but returned to redeem yourself. I don't know how you spent your time between then and now, but if you really want to redeem yourself for your mistakes, you follow the Jedi Code to the letter. Got it?"

Jak stopped walking while this exchange occurred, and he turned around vigorously to confront Master Windu. He declared, "Look pal, I didn't come from the Jedi Code, I came from a world that gave a lot more responsibilities than any one can ever imagine, and I still have them today. But that didn't stop me from surrounding myself with the people that I chose to care about the most. Keira just happened to be one of them. I fell in love with her ever since I first laid eyes on her, and that was a long time ago. Sure, we had bumps in the road, but that feeling for her has never yielded since. I love her then, I love her now, and I always will love her, and there's nothing you or any other force can do to stop that. But it also means that I keep my priorities straight, and this fight against the Empire is my most important priority, as is everyone else's. So you can lead, follow, or get out of my way, your choice."

Master Windu looked away for a second, thought, and replied, "Fine, I'll follow you since you brought us all together, 'hero.' You want to fall deeper into darkness, that's your choice, but I'm staying true to the Code that shaped me into who I am, and what I will be." He glared at Jak, turned around, and bolted away down the hill of the sand dune they were on.

Daxter hopped off of Jak's shoulder and said, "You know something, Jak? You can be a pushover sometimes with what you wanna do. Sometimes, you just don't have your head on straight. Sheesh, I'm almost getting tired of reminding you what matters every day!" Jak raised his eyebrow as Daxter declared, "You know what? I'm gonna hang with Master Windy-Baldy over there and talk to him for a bit. Hear a different voice, ya know?" Instantly, Daxter sped off towards Master Windu, and hopped on his shoulder.

"Hey, hey, hey, buddy boy!" The Ottsel began to nag, as Master Windu growled, "So, how did you get into this Jedi-Business any how? Were you in it for the lite-brites? The fancy robes? The thrill to fly star ships and blow stuff up? Who got you in the joint anyhow? Was she hot?"

While Daxter was obnoxiously bombarding Master Windu with random questions, Jak and Ahsoka walked right behind them, and had a conversation of their own:

"So this is the planet where your master grew up, huh?" Jak asked.

"Yup." Ahsoka quickly replied.

"How did he even survive in this hellish place?" Jak continued, "This place is ten times worse than the wastelands back at home."

"I'm not even sure," Ahsoka thought, "I think it was ambition to be a Jedi that drove him away from here. You see, he was actually a slave here, him and his mother both, then Master Kenobi came here incidentally and freed them."

'_This is all starting to sound hauntingly familiar…' _Jak thought to himself.

"Then Master Kenobi trained him into the great and powerful Jedi that he was," Ahsoka continued, "The reason he took me in as his Padawan was because him and I shared so many similarities; Our ambitions, our eagerness, and yes, even our immaturity." She chuckled at the end.

"What was he like?" Jak wondered.

Ahsoka continued, "The best teacher I ever had. He was very intense, but as my master, he was very caring. He always looked out for me and made sure that I was being trained properly, and that I would be all right. I remember one time during one of our earliest missions, a series of unfortunate events caused us to split up, and he ended up leaving without me. So I was left behind, fending off the Trade Federation by myself. I was surviving with the methods that he taught me, and then he came and rescued me. He apologized to me for him being irresponsible and leaving him behind, but I told him, 'Master, do not apologize to me. I should be thanking you, because your teachings helped me survive on my own, and that is the mark of a Jedi."'

"Sounds like a pretty special guy." Jak commented.

"He was," Ahsoka added on, "He would get so defensive because he cared about everyone around him, especially the ones he loved the most."

"Such as his mother?" Jak eagerly prodded.

"Yes," Ahsoka solemnly quivered, "especially his mother. He told me that she died when the sand-people tortured her. It broke his heart when he saw her dying, because he made a promise to her that he would come back. It's a shame that it had to be that way. That's why he never considered this place home anymore, this place is full of pain and loss to him."

Then Jak thought, _'Strange, that's sounds a lot like the vision that I saw when my mother died!'_ and then it hit him. Like the rift that he came through time with that crashed into the grounds of Haven City, it came together. He thought '_If his mother and my mother were both killed by sand people, and Damas told me that he was once a slave, then that means…Anakin's my long lost brother!'_ His eyes widened with wonder as the epiphany struck him like a lightning bolt. In a split second, he goes through a roller coaster of emotions. He contemplated _'I have to go look for him! I have to see if…no. I can't I have already learned in a vision that Vader killed him. It was probably for the better, because he was the one that was destined to be consumed by darkness. Unless, he sacrificed himself to his hands so that wouldn't happen, which leaves me, the twin brother he never knew about, to suffer in anguish! Should I tell her? Should I tell The Apprentice that her Master, the 'great' Anakin Skywalker was indeed my long lost brother? No. I can't declare it. I can't share my feelings to put her at risk of suffering. I have to stay true to who I am, and where I REALLY came from; The House of Mar."_

Ahsoka noticed that Jak was distracted in his own mind based on the perplexed expressions on his face that he was drawing. She came to herself to ask him, "Are you okay? Is everything alright?"

"Huh, what?" Jak snapped back into reality as he looked up, then pinched his nose while squinting his eyes, and replied, "Oh yeah, yeah. I'm fine"

Ahsoka touched his shoulder pad and asked him, "You really love her, don't you?"

"Yes," Jak replied, "more than anything in this galaxy."

"Well, I wish I had something that lasted as long as you guys did. You two should be lucky for each other!" Ahsoka lauded to Jak.

Jak replied solemnly, "Thanks, but it hasn't been easy, I can tell you that much."

"How so?" Ahsoka asked.

"Well," Jak looked at her and began, "Her and Daxter are the two best friends I ever had. I've known the two of them ever since we were like, five years old. We went on so many adventures together, for about ten years. After that, we all split apart due to unfortunate circumstances caused by The Metalheads. We all split up, and ended up in different areas of Haven City. Everyone changed, especially me. I got my dark powers because the leader of the city at the time tortured me at the time, and he turned me into a monster, a monster that I had a hard time learning how to control. Keira saw me at my worst. She saw me in my dark form, in my deepest of anger and hatred, and I lost it with her. Long story short, after fending off enemies with my anger, I mistakenly attacked her. We were both distraught, and we couldn't even look at each other. But then once she saw me save the world from The Metalheads, once she saw me use my dark powers for good, she forgave me, embraced me, and made me have a heart again."

"Wow," Ahsoka gasped in amazement, "what a story."

"But it doesn't end there," Jak continued, "Then I save the world a second time, in a worse conflict than the one before, and I emerge from the wreckage of our world's darkest horrors, victorious. It was the heat of the moment, and the first girl I see, wasn't Keira. It was someone else. I kissed her, out of adrenaline, out of euphoria, and it honestly felt great. But it wasn't the same spark that I had with Keira. Anyway, through the grapevine she found out, and she basically pretended that I didn't exist. I was crushed, heart broken, thinking that without her, I would never be the same again. Then the opportunity came again since the insurrection in our world didn't end. Remaining death bots that ransacked our city again and ended up capturing her, because other enemies feared for her potential to becoming the most powerful eco sage ever. They tried to kill her, and that was when I came in with my light powers, and destroyed any evil that would ever harm her. She looked at me, full of tears of joy, as I held her, spread my wings, and flew her to safety. From there on to the end, it was back to the way it was when we first met, when we were playing around as kids in Sandover Village, and I was happy with her."

"She really is amazing," Ahsoka commented, "more than I would've ever expected!"

"She is," Jak concurred, "Hell, most people normally get second chances, I'm lucky to have a third with her. If I blow this one, since we're married and all, I don't know what I will do if she ever walked away from me again. That's why if I'm not protecting anyone else, I will protect her."

Ahsoka could only tear up after she had heard this. She was left speechless. These were the types of emotions that she never had the freedom to feel because of the Jedi code. She thought to herself _'Now THAT is how true heroes should live their lives."_

Meanwhile, Daxter kept prodding Master Windu to the brink of uncontrollable agitation and distraction. He kept riding on his shoulder, asking him questions and telling him stories of his adventures with Jak. Master Windu's head was fuming as he plugged his ears to try and limit The Ottsel's loud voice projecting through his brain.

"I told Jak that we should've never gone to that stinkin' island! I kept sayin'!" Daxter continued to agitate the Jedi Master, "Hell, if he had listened to Old Greenie in the first place, I wouldn't be a loud, blabbering rat riding on people's bony shoulders! Anyway, where was I? Oh…" Daxter's jaw dropped in silence when he looked up at an ominous structure lying in the desert. At first, Master Windu was actually pleased that The Ottsel was finally silent, but then he looked up as well, and was immediately marveled by the structure set before them.

Of the four that looked upon the gloomy edifice lying dormant in the desert, Jak felt the most fearful. The moment he laid his eyes on the massive, purple and black, egg-shaped spaceship with limp tentacles, he knew exactly what it was. It was a sight that was all too familiar to him. So familiar, it created a haunting flashback, of the purple Day Star that shined bright in the sky over Spargus. That same Day Star would awaken, and would eventually unleash horrors all over Eco. Various forms of dangerous creatures were terrorizing the people around him, poisoning them with dark eco. The most terrifying structure that the star unleashed was it's Terraformer, a multi-legged, massive, and heavily armored machine that attacked Spargus and Haven City with its horror. Thankfully for Eco, Jak was the one that stopped the Terraformer, and the man, or machine that controlled the terrors of it all. The last image that he saw in his flashback was a silhouette of a humanoid cyborg looking dead at him. He was adorned with red armor, and only half of his scarred human face had short, orange hair on it.

Jak knew what it was, and the haunting flashback made him scream of agonizing pain. He fell to the ground on his knees, holding his forehead with his hand, breathing heavily. Everyone noticed and sensed his pain, as they quickly rushed to his side.

"Are you all right, Jak?" Ahsoka leaned down as the first to ask.

"Looks like ol' dark boy had a nasty flashback," Daxter commented as he hopped off Master Windu's shoulder, "and I know exactly what it is…"

"The Dark Makers…" Jak whispered, and then looked up to the quivering ottsel, "…they're back."

"Dark Makers?" Master Windu inquired.

"Yes," Jak grunted as he stood up. He continued, "They're Precursors that have been heavily infected with dark eco. They have been at war with each other over control of the universe for thousands of years, similar to the Jedi and the Sith. The Dark Makers came to our world one time to destroy it, and Daxter and I had to save everyone from the brink of destruction." He pointed to the ship that lay in the desert, and concluded, "That was one of the ships that they used to destroy it. Horrors of unimaginable comprehension lie within that structure of terror."

"Sheesh, Jak!" Daxter groaned, "You didn't have to get all 'voodoo monkboy' on everyone here! We destroyed it once, right?"

"The fur-ball is right," Master Windu declared, "and I say we should go in there and collect the items that we need. We've been walking around this desert for hours and came up with nothing. I think we should take a chance and scout around for items that we can find. Who knows? It could give us good resources that we can use against The Empire."

"I know what resources they have," Jak sternly replied to Master Windu, "and I have a bad feeling about this one. The Dark Makers are obviously here for some reason, and I fear that if they form an alliance with The Empire, it could spell doom for The Galaxy as a whole, because now I know what they are both capable of." Then he took a moment and thought again, "But still, it wouldn't hurt to see what they're up to, right?"

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Daxter interjected, and began to stammer, "You mean to say that you both wanna go in there? Facing a bunch of creeps full of dark eco? With more weapons than we have? The four of us? By ourselves!?" Jak, Windu, and Ahsoka nodded, and then the ottsel sighed, "Sheesh, I guess if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?"

"That is NEVER the option," Master Windu sternly replied, "but in this case, I guess you'll have to tag along." Daxter gulped as he perched on Jak's shoulder, while him and the two leading Jedi walked towards the gloomy abyss of what once was a Dark Maker Ship. Jak had strokes of fear pulsing around his body, and Master Windu could sense it. He constantly looked back at him as they walked towards the evil edifice, and as they walked closer, the internal tensions raised.

The four of them stood at the bow of the ship, and Jak was the one to step forward and ignite his light saber. He stabbed it right through the steel of the ship, and carved out a doorway that they could walk through. Once the doorway opened, he retracted his blue beam, but kept the weapon in hand, because he sensed that trouble was afoot.

They all walked through a dark hallway and broke through a dismantled door, and ended up walking through the hangar bay of the ship. All four of them stood in awe and terror as they looked around all of the torturous devices that were cased inside the ship. The structures that caught their eyes the most were the five terraformers that were stationed around the base of the ship, similar to the one that attacked Spargus, the one that Jak himself destroyed.

"Well, so far so good. No enemies yet," Jak urgently declared, "but we haven't much time. Gather all of the resources you possibly can that will fit well with the pod. Get as many as you can quick so we can get the hell out of here!"

Without hesitation, everyone spread out all over the ship looking for parts and pieces that would give the pod power. Jak and Daxter found some energy gates and small spark plugs from old dismantled machines. Master Windu found a chest filled with dark eco crystals, and mischievously took a few handfuls of them and stuffed them in his pockets. Ahsoka found some small power cells and energy terminals out of other robots, but paused to rummage through the devices when she heard a sound behind her back. She looked around suspiciously for a moment, and continued to gather the items that she found.

The group converged together in the same hangar bay that they split up from, and they urgently sprinted towards the doorway, only to stop in front of it when massive dark eco stones blocked it. Jak felt a cold sensation tingling down his spine, as Daxter shivered. He looked behind him and saw thousands of Dark Maker bots teeming along the walls of the entire ship. Most of them looked like humanoid mosquitos with one arm larger than the other, while some of them were flying machines. More bots flew in, and were shaped like large tops with a clawed tentacle on the bottom. There were even a few alien mutants with eight legs and two arms crawling up to the gang. Jak, Windu, and Ahsoka drew their light sabers as the Terraformers awakened. This was the type of ambush that Jak and Daxter feared, one that they have never had to deal with before, but are forced to face with now, with the chances of survival truly from slim to none…


	26. Chapter 26: Omen of Darkness

Chapter 26: Omen of Darkness

Jak, Ahsoka, and Master Windu were cornered, all of them with their light sabers drawn at the savages creeping to them. They drew closer and closer, with bright purple eyes glaring at them, ready to feast on the beings that represented the pure light. To them, they were intruders that vandalized their property, and they were ready to make them pay.

Jak stood front and center, anxious, eager to defend himself and his friends, while Daxter was shivering with fear on his shoulder. He had a plan in place, but didn't say anything to anyone. He was ready to make his move. When the Dark Makers charged and the Terraformers fired their lasers, Jak changed into his light from, and clasped his hands together to freeze time. The lasers stopped accelerating, and every being stood still except for Jak and Daxter. First, he flung his light saber at both of the Terraformer's lasers so that they would redirect towards the ceiling of the ship. Then, once he got his weapon back, Jak charged forward by slicing, dicing, and stabbing ten Dark Maker bots, struck down five flying bots, and hopped on two of the Tentacle-Tops and stabbed both of them. He used The Force to fling the third one towards the pillar that erected from the center of the ship. Finally, he created a massive ball of light eco to blast it through once time had stopped.

Master Windu and Ahsoka were caught off-guard once they saw what happened next; They saw a few of the Dark Maker bots collapse with open wounds, and fragments of the ceiling crash down on top of the Terraformers, destroying them. One second, they were blocked by an overwhelmingly gratuitous amount of enemies, and the next, they had a clear pathway towards Jak. Still, chaos ensued inside this Dark Maker ship, and there were still plenty of enemies left to defend themselves with.

"COME ON!" Jak yelled and waved his hand towards them as he charged forward to slaughter more Dark Makers. He would end up waiting quite a bit though, as Ahsoka and Master Windu were hindered by the inexperience of facing these monsters. They took down the flying Dark Makers with ease, but when the humanoid Dark Maker bots came in front of them, they couldn't figure them out as easily. One of them jumped right in front of Ahsoka's path, grabbed her with the larger, mechanical arm, and threw her back over Master Windu and onto the collapsing bridge. In response, Master Windu tried to strike at the robot, but the robot deployed its shield just before he struck its armor. It damaged the Jedi, knocking him on his back. The robot was about to finish him by launching a dark eco bomb at him, but Ahsoka sprung up and used The Force to push it out of the way.

Ahsoka helped her master up, looked at him, smiled, and nodded as he did the same. Suddenly, Ahsoka was swept up by one of the Dark Maker Tentacle-Tops and carried towards a Terraformer that was ready to vaporize her with its laser. Jak noticed this after he used his weapon blocked three dark eco bombs into flying Dark Maker bots, and flung his light saber at the robot's clawed tail, cutting her free. As she fell, Jak used The Force to bring her back with one hand, and his weapon with the other. She looked into his eyes for a brief moment, and then quickly let go as she turned to see Master Windu just finishing off a few more monsters. Master Windu hastily sprinted to the others for their aid, only to be halted by a laser from a nearby Terraformer that broke the bridge. As Master Windu fell, Jak grabbed his arm at the last instant, and pulled him up.

Once he helped Master Windu on his feet, Jak grabbed him and Ahsoka under his light eco shield that withstood several bombs from other Dark Makers. They then quickly shuffled into the door of the hallway, locking themselves in.

"Now what do we do?" Ahsoka asked.

"We'll have to rush up and find a different way out of here." Jak replied, and then took off while Ahsoka and Master Windu followed.

"How are we going to destroy this ship?" Master Windu asked, "We can't just leave it here and let them keep populating!"

"Haven't gotten that far yet!" Jak retorted as he halted to see some of the humanoid Dark Maker bots in attack position. They all launched dark eco bombs at them, and Jak dodged them all. He then used The Force to push them all down and out of the way. He continued running through the cold hallway while the others followed, and opened a door that led to a ledge that wrapped around the central spire of the ship. A nearby Terraformer blasted its laser at them, and they rushed back inside the doorway and huddled up.

"All right, here's the plan," Jak began by pointing at Ahsoka and Master Windu, "You two are gonna take care of the Terraformers on each of the opposite sides. I don't care which one you take just take one. Once you destroy them, it should give you a clear pathway out of here. Once its there, you two take it, and run as far as you can away from here."

"What about you? How are you gonna take care of the one in the back?" Ahsoka asked.

"Ill take care of the fifth one by destroying the reactor that lies at the center of this ship," Jak replied, "It's powered by a massive dark eco crystal that keeps spawning Dark Makers that crawl all over this place. Once it's destroyed, the whole ship will be. The only way is to counteract it with light eco energy, which I have."

"You'll get killed doing that!" Master Windu yelled.

"Maybe," Jak replied, "but it's the only way I know how to destroy this thing so far. Dax!" He turned to Daxter on his shoulder and suggested, "You may wanna hop on Ahsoka's shoulder for this one."

"But Jak!" Daxter complained, "We beat this bad boy together once before, why can't we do it again together!? Demolition Duo, right!?"

"I understand," Jak solemnly replied, "but I am only separating me from you this time out of the protection of your safety. You can guide Ahsoka in defeating the Terraformer, but if you come with me to destroy the reactor, there will be so much eco combusting and exploding, that you may die with me. If I don't make it back, you have to look out for everyone, and continue the mission without me."

"NO!" Daxter rejected, "You're my best friend and brother, and I am here to be by your side, especially if this is our last rodeo!" Jak then grabbed Daxter off of his shoulder as he was flailing his arms and legs wildly until he was tossed onto Ahsoka's shoulder. He then purred sensually and quipped, "Hey baby, how ya doin?" Ahsoka then rolled her eyes.

"Let's move!" Jak commanded as he ran up the ledge. Ahsoka and Master Windu jumped from opposite ends towards their respective Terraformers they wanted to destroy. Both of them slid on top of their respective necks, and landed on their backs. Ahsoka got up dazed and confused, placing her head on her forehead.

"Look out!" Daxter suddenly yelled as the head and long neck of the Terraformer came crashing down towards her. She quickly leaped towards the edge of the machine's back, and then the head swiped towards her again. She leapt over it, and then the neck of the machine stood stiff and stared at her.

All of the sudden, a wave of various forms of Dark Maker landed on the pad, and three tentacles sprung up and waved around. Ahsoka stood at the center of the Terraformer's pad, with her green light saber drawn in her right hand. With her left, she reached for a smaller, shorter-bladed yellow light saber, and positioned herself to attack.

"You got two of 'em!?" Daxter yelped in astonishment.

"Who said I couldn't?" Ahsoka replied. She then threw her two light sabers in crossed directions, destroying the tentacles as well as a few of the flying Dark Makers. Just when the Terraformer fired it's laser, Ahsoka caught her blades and crossed them to block it, knocking the head backwards and making the monster-like machine upset.

"Nice block!" Daxter commented, "I wonder why Jak didn't think of that the last time." Ahsoka sensed more danger afoot, as a squad of humanoid Dark Makers appeared in front of her, in attack position. She was hit with one of their dark eco bombs, and two of the eight-legged monsters tried to attack her.

Ahsoka sprung up, and sliced those monsters in half with her light sabers, only to find that they ended up multiplying into smaller monster. The more she attacked them, the more they divided into smaller creatures. She attacked them until they vanished. The other Dark Makers then approached her, and then deployed their shields. She waited patiently for them to deactivate their shields, and then just before they were about to launch dark eco bombs at her, she made short work of them by stabbing them and chopping off their limbs.

"Nice!" Daxter commended, "That was almost too easy. Jak had a harder time dealing with those goober-eyed bucket heads." Suddenly, a trio of spinning roto-blades popped out from the pad, and scratched Ahsoka's legs, collapsing her on the ground immediately.

"Oh yeah…"Daxter remembered, "I forgot to tell you about those thingies. Hehe…" Two of the roto-blades came back around and swiftly zoomed towards the Togruta. Ahsoka was able to time her attack perfectly, as she stabbed them both at the proper simultaneous moment. The third was spinning around, waiting, looking to strike at her. Once it charged forward, Ahsoka used The Force to levitate it off the ground, and then threw the spinning device as it spun towards the head of the Terraformer.

Then monstrous mechanism was clearly impacted, as it swerved it's head and neck wildly, trying to keep it stable, with dark eco pouring out of the tank located in the back of its head. It swung at Ahsoka once, and she rolled onto the ground. As she got her self up, she noticed that Master Windu was struggling to fight the Dark Makers on his own Terraformer. He was flailing his purple-beamed light saber about, but was then apprehended and then wrestled to the ground.

"Hey Ahsoka!" Daxter cried out, "You know that dark eco tank on the back of its head?"

"Yeah?" Ahsoka replied, looking over at Master Windu, ignoring what Daxter was referring to.

Daxter commanded, "When it comes down next time, leap up there and stab your blades right through it!" In that instance, Ahsoka turned to the collapsing head of the Terraformer as it fell towards her. Instinctively, she flipped backwards as the head landed on the pad, and then sprung forward with her light sabers facing down. She pierced the dark eco tank as she landed on the Terraformer's head. As her monstrous contraption exploded, she used that force to fly towards Master Windu's direction, where he was in need of serious aid.

"Ahsoka, I don't think this is the way we should be going!" Daxter screamed as they were falling towards the Terraformer that Master Windu was on. The Dark Makers pinned down the Jedi Knight, and the Terraformer was charging up its laser to blast him into oblivion.

At the last moment, Ahsoka impaled the dark eco tank of the head that was about to destroy Master Windu, and the whole contraption was exploding from the neck down. All of the Dark Makers that were on the machine ended up jumping off the pad and into the deep and bottomless abyss of the Dark Maker ship. Ahsoka landed on the pad and helped her Jedi Master up, and they all ran towards a small opening on the walls of the ship that led to their escape. The explosion of the Terraformer plunged them out of the ship and landed them into the sand dunes that curled hundreds of yards away from the dormant cargo carrier.

Daxter tried to take off towards the ship to go back for Jak, but Ahsoka restrained him and forced him to stop. "No, stay here. He'll be back." She whispered to the Ottsel as his ears folded down. He can only hope and pray to the Precursors, his own kind, that Jak would use the Force to destroy the ship and survive.

Meanwhile, after fighting his way towards the central sector of the Dark Maker ship, fending off several attacks from all the diverse forms of Dark Maker, Jak had reached the reactor of the ship that kept generating the dark eco necessary to produce the power of the Dark Makers. The problem was that a dark eco shield that not even a light saber could penetrate barricaded the door that led to the reactor inside.

Jak noticed that the fifth and final Terraformer was charging its laser at his direction, and that he was standing in front of the door. With an idea planted in his brain like a seed, Jak retracted the blue blade from his weapon, and tucked it away, leaving it hang on his belt instead. Once the Terraformer fired the laser towards him, Jak took his jet-board out, and used it to leap over the laser. Once he got close enough in range, he used its blaster to fire at the dark eco tank at the back of its head. When he landed on the Terraformer's neck, he deployed the wind sail as the explosions followed him.

He rode his gadget down through the neck of the machine, onto its pad, and then rode the wall until he was facing upside down. Once he did this, he retracted the wind sail, laid flat, grabbed the board tight against his stomach, and activated the boosters. The dark eco explosions from the Terraformer caused him to spiral through the door that led into the dark eco reactor.

A massive dark eco crystal generated the dark eco reactor, and four long generators surrounding all sides produced eco energy to power it. This was also where Dark Makers were spawned, and they walked on several small bridges that connected to the reactor. Examining all of this, Jak repositioned himself standing upright on his jet-board with the wind sail deployed. He flew around the area of the reactor, using the blaster to knock several of the dark makers out of the air.

Suddenly, one of the tentacle-tops used its claw to rip Jak away from his jet-board and hurled him towards the doorway that he used to get inside. Jak's body crashed into the wall above it, and he fell down towards one of the bridges that led to the reactor.

The Dark Makers approached him, as his body lay limp at the edge of the bridge. Just when they all crept up to dispose of him, they sensed his skin turn pale and crackle with dark eco. He suddenly sprung up in his dark form, and unleashed a dark strike towards the reactor, knocking down all of the flying dark makers. Jak then picked up his light saber, ignited it, and sprung forward to spin, strike, slice, and stab all of the humanoid Dark Makers, severing their limbs before they could even deploy their shields. He twisted around his enemies like a dark eco tornado, dispatching them with his weapon and flashes of dark eco lightning. He rushed towards the reactor, raising his weapon as if he were ready to smash it down on the massive dark eco crystal that was coated with dark eco energy.

"JAK!" The voice of Qui-Gon Jinn echoed in the middle of his process. He stopped, put his arms down, and turned back into his normal form. The voice continued, "Remember, the only way to destroy darkness, even in its most lethal form, is using the inner light that shines within you. Use it. Use The Force, Jak."

Jak looked up towards the ceiling of the chamber and whispered, "You're right." He then turned into his light eco form, clasped his hands together to stop time, and spread his wings to fly as high as he could. Once he reached the climax of his ascension, he then dove down towards the dark eco crystal that was spinning about at the center of the ship. The light eco he was channeling helped him penetrate through the powerful dark eco shield that cased over the massive crystal. Once he flew close enough, he lifted his blade and pieced the dark eco crystal.

The light eco that Jak channeled from his body to the crystal caused a chain reaction, wiping out all of the Dark Makers, and caused a massive explosion that not only destroyed the ship, but also caused seismic earthquakes all over the area. Daxter, Ahsoka, and Master Windu covered themselves as the wave of dark eco expanded all over the desert. Once the dust cleared, Daxter was the first to swiftly rush towards the rubble that was once was a Dark Maker ship, to look for Jak, who was laying unconscious in the center of the aftermath. He lay still as if he was dead, but inside his mind, he had yet another horrifying vision, much like he had the one before.

'_Still fighting for the weak link, eh Jak?' _A familiar voice spoke, then he saw a black-hooded figure wielding a red-bladed light saber, slaying a slew of screaming Jedi. Their voices cried as the green and blue blades flied through the air as they threw them up. Their eyes streamed with tears as they shed blood from their fatal wounds.

'_How pathetic,'_ the voice continued, as the hooded figure took one of his robotic arms and grabbed a Jedi's neck, choking her, and breaking it, throwing the dead body to the ground as the green blade retracted and fell.

'_I have had a few enhancements since we last met…' _it continued as the black figure walked away from the fracas, towering over the thousands of dead Jedi corpses.

'_I've found some new friends to help me conquer this puny little galaxy!' _Then the hooded figure kneeled to his master, Darth Vader, who knighted him with his own light saber.

'_I've begun to wield a power even the Precursors could not control!' _The voice continued to haunt Jak mind. It was torturing him, bringing up memories from his past. It started from all the torture experiments when he was injected with dark eco, and it continued with his frightening encounters with the Metal Head Leader and the Dark Maker ship. The voice continued:

'_Don't fret, you wont live to see what I will turn this little world into…'_ His home planet appeared before him.

'_Maybe a rock?' _A fleet of Star Destroyers appeared and TIE Fighters cam screaming down from outer space, firing their blasters and destroying ally ships.

'_Or a floating puddle of slag.' _Imperial Storm Troopers ran across the desert and shot down Spargan soldiers and Freedom League Fighters.

'_Or nothing at all! COMPLETE OBLIVION!'_ A massive space station in a spherical shape charged up a purple laser and blasted Eco into smithereens. An explosion followed with millions of screaming people, as if they were all exterminated by poison.

'_So hard to chose…'_ The hooded-figure appeared through the smoke and fire of the destroyed planet. He came forward, and reached with his cyber kinetic arms to pull the hood back. He then saw an ominous face that was half-scarred half- covered with steel. His eyes stared him down with anger and hatred. They had the blend of orange, yellow, and red like his hair sticking out of his scalp.

Errol whispered as he drew his light saber, _'I'll be back later…'_

"JAK!" A shriek pierced his eardrums and woke him up from his nightmare. He was breathing heavily, and saw Daxter, Ahsoka, and Master Windu surround him. Daxter continued to scream with relief, "Oh thank The Precursors! You're alive, buddy!" He climbed on top of his chest and slapped his face around, "You had me worried sick, pal!"

He sat himself up and turned to Daxter, "Dax, I had another vision. It was bad. I saw him again."

"Him?" Daxter asked him, perplexed, "Him who? This Vader guy?"

"No…" Jak coldly shivered, "Errol. He's back. He's alive. And he's after us. I can sense it."

"OH JEEZ, JAK!" Daxter exasperated, "You can't be serious! We busted that bucket of bolts years ago, twice! There's no way he can be alive!"

"He is, Dax," Jak told him, "and I think Vader and the Empire have something to do with it. That's why we saw the Dark Makers here."

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it so much," Ahsoka intruded as he helped stand him up, "what you just did was very brave. You saved an entire planet by destroying that ship." She kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks," Jak softly replied. Then Master Windu approached him and handed him his light saber.

"You lost this during the explosion," Master Windu chided, "A Jedi should never lose his weapon under any circumstance. This weapon is your life." He finished as he let go of Jak's light saber and walked away. As he tucked it away on his belt, he noticed that his jet board was buried underneath the sand. Noticing that everything was still intact, he tucked it away in his holster and followed the others.

By the time they got back to the outpost in the village, the sun had set, the temperatures had cooled slightly, and the planet's two moons rose, one of them had a bright orange color. They walked into the garage to notice that Ratchet, Clank, Tym, Tess, and Keira finishing up the upgrades for the exterior of the pod.

"Hey guys!" Keira waved in the back of the garage and greeted. She walked towards them, "No wonder it took you guys so long. I felt that earthquake hit us hours ago. Are you all okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Jak replied.

"Something bothering you?" Keira suspected, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow."

"Honey," Daxter began, "You won't believe what we just ran into! We-"

"FOUND all the necessary parts we need to make this pod go!" Jak interrupted him, muzzling the Ottsel's mouth as he was trying to speak. "Spark plugs, super headers, push rods, you name it, and we got it. Hell, we can build bigger and better twin turbine engines with it!" Daxter spit a few times and wiped his tounge.

Keira stared at him for a few moments and then sqeaked, "Okay! Let's see what you got and we'll make it work! I need everyone to pitch in, alright?" Daxter groaned as the others immediately rushed to work on the pod.

All eight of them pitched in to improve the pod. They made everything bigger; engine turbines, cockpit, deflector shields, and suspension ropes. The work took all night long, and everyone poured in their fair share of of blood, sweat, and tears in. Wrenches were turned, drills were pushed, grinders buzzed, and rivets, nuts, and bolts held it all together. They all inhaled and exhaled profusely as they looked at the accomplished work.

The pod was a mechanical masterpiece. The twin turbine engines were three times larger than the original two, and the racer's cockpit had twice as much room as the original pod so that Jak can fit in perfectly. The pod, and the twin turbines both, had stainless-steel armor that was coated with a blue and yellow paint scheme. Now all that had to be tested was the power of the engines.

"Alright Jak," Keira began with an enthusiastic tone, "fire this baby up! I wanna hear how she sounds." Daxter hopped off the workbench to examine the engines one more time, and he looked right at the area where the electric blue eco beam held the turbine engines together. Keira yelled, "Daxter, No!"

Too late; Jak had fired the engines and started the pod. A beam of blue eco shot across both ends of the pod, connecting them inward. Daxter happened to be within its vicinity, and shocked himself. He tried speaking after he was knocked down on the floor, but his face became so numb his speech was muffled yet again.

While everyone else was giggling over Daxter's klutzy error, Jak was grinning and purring with pleasure as he revved the engines of the pod. They roared like lions in the wild, banging the eardrums of all the others so furiously and so violently, they all needed earmuffs to protect their ears from the sound. It was boasting with power, and they loved it.

"Oh yeah," Jak grinned as he shut the engines off and hopped out of the pod. He walked towards Keira, "We built ourselves one hell of a winning machine."

"And we've got ourselves one hell of a winning racer," Keira whispered, stroking his chest softly, "if you get yourself some sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow!"

"Yeah," Jak replied softly as he hugged her back, warming her heart like an oven. He kissed her and finished, "big day tomorrow."


	27. Chapter 27: The Dark Side

Chapter 27: The Dark Side

Night fell over the crisp and dry desert of Tatooine, and the Boonta Eve Classic was merely hours away. It would be an eerie setting on the silent eve of race day, as an Imperial Shuttle docked in the middle of the flat sand dunes. As it opened up its lower hatch, Errol walked out, followed by Commander Creed, followed by small squadron of Storm Troopers. They walked outside, and stood together all in a row, with Errol in the center. A black hood shrouded his face, as an open-faced Imperial helmet covered Commander Creed's. Errol waved his hand slowly as The Renegade materialized from the invisibility cloak.

Errol chuckled as he peeled his eyes on the stationary combat freighter, "They never learn…"

"Sir," Commander Creed inquired, "should we dismantle this vessel?"

"No," he ordered, "search the ship for any shield generators they have. I will contact Lord Vader for further orders."

"Yes sir." Commander Creed obeyed as he motioned other Storm Troopers to search The Renegade with him. Errol then pulled out a small holo-communicator from his pocket and used it to contact The Sith Lord. A small hologram of Darth Vader then appeared.

"We have landed on the desert planet of Tatooine, where Jak and his friends embarked on their search for the shipments of eco." Errol told him.

"Good," Lord Vader replied, "They plan to take all of that eco back to their home planet. Retrieve those shipments and bring them back to me, along with all of the fugitives involved, alive."

"Master?" Errol questioned.

"It is The Emperor's command." Vader returned.

"You said you wanted to destroy The Emperor!" Errol yelled.

"And I still do," Vader sternly replied, "In order to ensure our place as rulers of the galaxy, we must go about this strategically. We can't let The Emperor have any suspicion of us conspiring against him. For now, we have to obey his commands in order to mask our real intentions. We will use them to find their other allies, bring them all together, and let The Emperor have his execution attempt. Once that happens, we will dispatch of him together. Once he is dead, I will then let you have the privilege of finishing his job for him."

"Very good, My Lord," Errol nodded and grinned as he calmed himself down, "but where will you be?"

"I am currently searching for these 'Precursors,' the ancient beings that the inhabitants of Eco have spoken of," Vader replied, "they have been orbiting all around the galaxy for thousands of years, and they have created worlds just like the one you came from. I have sensed that the closest system that they are near just happens to be Tython, site of the first Jedi Temple. I will take the Fleet there to capture them and conquer their vessel. That should draw the others in, as well as other lost Jedi."

"Like who, my lord?" Errol asked again.

"For instance," Darth Vader began, "out of all the Jedi we destroyed, there is no other one I would like to destroy more than Obi-Wan Kenobi. He took everything from me when he was my master, so I plan to complete my revenge on him. He just has to come to me. But for now, I will be patient, and so should you, my friend. Go forward with The Emperor's command and I will let you know when the proper moment will be. And if they even utter the name of my former master, have them direct you to him, then bring them all to me…alive."

"As you wish, Master." Errol concluded as the hologram vanished. Creed and the other troopers approached him.

"Sir, we have all of their shield generators captive," Creed began, "any orders from Lord Vader?"

"Yes," Errol replied as he re-cloaked the ship's invisibility, "Recapture the dark eco at all costs and bring it to him, along with the fugitives alive."

"Did he say how we could do it?" Creed asked.

"No…" Errol purred as he grinned mischievously, then he turned to Creed, "Alert the Fleet to come directly to Tatooine immediately, armed and ready. And tell them to bring the 'Special Package' with them."

"'Special Package,' Sir?" Creed inquired, perplexed.

"Yes," Errol smiled and chuckled softly, "I have a plan…"

Meanwhile, the Mock Renegade that carried the others crash-landed into the boggy swamp of Dagobah. As the ship was pulled out of light speed, gravity from the planet sucked the combat freighter and blinded the cockpit with a white fog. Then it crashed through the branches of the lower levels of the planet, and then before the landing gears could deploy, the ship slid to a stop on a muddy marsh, and stopped just short of a misty and foggy pond.

Samos was the first to stumble out of the side door, then Sig, then Jinx, then Ashelin. Torn was the pilot of the ship and climbed out last. They all groaned with agitation and exhaustion as they climbed from the ship and into the damp marshland. All but Samos belched with disgust as they scanned the environment around them.

Ashelin started, "Damnit, Torn! You couldn't find a smoother landing!?"

"What the hell do you expect, Ash!?" Torn fired back, "As soon as I pulled out of light speed, I got sucked in by this nasty swamp's atmosphere! What the hell else was I supposed to do!?"

"Well maybe you shoulda pulled us outta light speed fasta ya nimrod!" Jinx interjected.

"Watch it!" Torn barked as he raised his hand towards his face.

"Hostility, I sense," An old, shrill voice piped, "Stemmed by fear, lack of trust, and anger. But no Hate. Hope, there is, without hate."

Sig walked up beside Samos and pointed, "Um, Samos? Is that…"

"Master Yoda!" Samos exclaimed with excitement, "My old friend!"

"Samos Hagai," Master Yoda walked out of the shadows with his cane and approached him, "Alive, you are!" The old Jedi Master was about the same height and had the same look as the Green Eco Sage, except he had a darker green skin tone, less hair, wide eyes, and did not need any logs beneath his feet to walk, like the sage does.

"It's good to see you again!" Samos shouted enthusiastically.

"Traveled back through time, you did," Yoda stated, "Come back in this time frame, how did you?"

"I took a rift to get back into the time frame that I was once from." Samos declared.

"But, find me on this planet, how did you?" Yoda asked again.

"Through the strength of your training, Master," Samos commended, "not with eco, but with The Force. It brought me here."

"Why come here, did you?" Master Yoda inquired once more.

"I need you help," Samos pleaded, "I am trying to train this group of friends of mine to become Jedi. The problem is, they're not Force-sensitive, they have no eco powers like I have, and they lack patience! I know there is not a whole lot of time to start a revolution that would stand against the Empire, but I need to revive the Jedi Order, and I can't do it without them feeling The Force. Discovering that type of power takes time, patience, serenity, and an open mind to discover the power that surrounds every living thing in the galaxy, and they need to learn. I'm not reaching them, but I know teaching ordinary warriors the ways of The Force is indeed possible, despite it never being done before. I need your help, Master. You're the most powerful and wisest Jedi I know. If I can't reach to them, I know you can. Will you help me?"

"Hmm…" Master Yoda thought, looked down on the ground, and looked up at The Sage again. He sighed and deeply rejected, "Help you, I cannot."

"What!?" Samos shouted, "But, why?"

"Please tell me we didn't waste our time!" Ashelin yelled from behind as Samos swiftly looked back.

"Samos, my old friend," Master Yoda explained, "Admirable, your cause is, to fight The Dark Side and The Empire, with valiant warriors from your world. However, dangerous time, this is, for new Jedi to be trained. The Empire, The Sith, The Dark Side. All, slaughtering fellow Jedi Knights, they have. Died, under the wrath of darkness, they have. Hunting for you, they are, for your powers. If train these young warriors the ways of The Force, fail, you will. Die, they will. Too much risk at this time juncture, this is, to train a new generation of Jedi, when current warriors destroyed, they are being. Not much hope left for The Galaxy, there is. Sorry, I am."

"Look, marsh-boy!" Torn cried out, "We didn't come all this way to be rejected and turned away. You have no idea where we came from, where we've been, what we've seen, or what we've done. I don't want to get into too deep of detail, but we've been through hell and back in our world many times, and this is a hell that The Empire caused for us. They invaded our world, took it, and nearly destroyed it. But we want it back! And we came for your help to fight for it back! You don't care enough for us to help us take back what is right fully ours!? To prove to The Empire that they CAN be defeated!? You don't want evil to be destroyed, do you!?"

"Eh," Jinx then shrugged, "I don't know why we are here instead of findin' a plan to destroy this 'Empire,' by, ya know, blowin' it up sky high! What the hell are we doin here anyway!?"

"Exactly!" Samos agreed, "Just what are you doing here, Master Yoda?"

Master Yoda sighed again and replied, "Exiling myself, I am, for the guilt of defeat, dealt by The Dark Side of The Force. All of the Jedi, gone, they are. Died, at the hands of Darth Vader, controlled by Darth Sidious. Tried to face the Sith on my own, I did. Failed, I did. Controls the Universe, The Dark Side, now does. If try to rebel against new conformity, die we all will."

"That doesn't mean that we should give up!'" Samos retorted, "There is hope, I know it! I may not know The Dark Side as well as you do, but I know it well enough to know that it has a weakness. I also know that it is strong enough to destroy us all. It puts us at great risk, but I believe that the risks are worth the reward. We need to make a stand! Now more than ever! The longer we wait, the stronger they get."

"Any other apprentices, you have?" Master Yoda wondered.

Samos gulped in reply, "Yes. My daughter, Keira, who you may remember, and her new husband, Jak, are eco-channelers that are strong with The Force. They are currently in the final stages of their Jedi Training, and taking the fight right to The Empire as we speak. I kept them separated from us for our safety, and I know they can handle themselves. They have before."

"Hmm…" Yoda fearfully thought then continued, "Miracle, it is, that she is alive and well. However, serious darkness, I sense in her. Dangerously present, The Dark Side is in her."

"What!?" Samos exclaimed, surprised, "How!? Jak's the one with the dark eco in his bloodstream! Why her!? Why My Daughter!?"

"Yes," Master Yoda confirmed, "Sense the darkness, in Jak, I do. But acknowledged his fear, he has. Learning to control it, he is. Stronger and stronger with the light, he grows, every day. However, haunted by her past, Keira is. Nightmares she has, of her origins, caused by The Dark Side. Torturing her, The Emperor is. Fear that it may reveal an inconvenient truth, I do."

"But she's so innocent and kind!" Samos interjected, "That how I raised her!"

"Ah yes," Master Yoda corrected, "But her origins, troubling they are. Clouded, her path with The Force is without the truth. The truth, The Sith have. Expose it, they will. Afraid of it, she is. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering."

Samos began to tear up as he heard his old friend speak these words, "No," he stammered, "they can't do that! The truth will hurt her."

"The potential of the Dark Side, you now see," Master Yoda continued, "and now you see why help you, I cannot."

"Wait! Master," Sig stepped forward and pleaded as Yoda's ears perked, "Look, I know you may not believe this from what we originally are, but we want to be Jedi. We want to do whatever it takes to protect this Galaxy from these Sith guys you speak of. We may not be that spiritual, and we may have more brawn than brains, but we can work towards that! We need to learn how to find victories in a smarter, more spiritual way. That's how Jak and Keira are so successful in saving our world, every time. We may not have the eco, and we may not have The Force yet, but we might as well damn try to find that power. Like Samos said, this is a huge risk for all of us, but this is the only shot that we have if we are going to help Jak and Keira save the Galaxy! I know you have the answers, so please help us. In return, we will use our new powers for good only, promise."

Master Yoda only smiled and replied, "Not the typical situation I would train Jedi in, but show promise, you all do. Different backgrounds, attitudes, personalities, you all have. Make you all unique, they do. Hone all of those qualities into one harmony with The Force, we must. Teach you patience, wisdom, and serenity, that comes with the power of The Force, I will. Great Jedi Warriors, you all can become."

Samos smiled at his old friend, who winked right back at him. He looked to his four pupils, and smiled at him. They then bowed to Master Yoda. Samos then thought to himself _'I can't believe it. They are actually going to become Jedi. This will be a first. I never thought any of these individuals would be willing to become so strong with The Force. But then again, why is he so concerned about Keira?"_

"Come, my students," Master Yoda called to the others, and motioned them to a dark cave that was shrouded by leaves, moss, and branches. He continued, "first step to your training, walk through this cave, each of you must. Then, the answers you seek within your questions, you will have. Your thoughts and memories; clarity, they will gain. Understand your purpose, you will. The power of The Force, granted, you will be." Then the four of them entered into the dark and misty cave near his hut, and thus, gained the power of The Force needed to convert them to the ways of the Jedi.

As they departed into the abyss of the cave, Samos approached Yoda and offered him gratitude. He consoled him, "Master Yoda, Thank you."

"No, my old friend," Yoda replied, "Thank You."

"Now Master," The Sage offered, curious and concerned, "What is the truth that The Dark Side knows about Keira, Jak, Vader, and Sidious? I need to know."

"Careful with your feelings, Samos," Master Yoda wisely advised, "An ardent yearn for answers may lead to corruption. Patience."

"I understand," Samos subdued, then demanded, "but she's my daughter, and he's my son-in law. They have been a part of my entire life, so I deserve to have the right to know what is going on with them, where they came from, and what will happen to them."

Master Yoda calmly and willfully conceded, "All right, meditate with The Force, together, we will, before they come back. Tell you everything you need to know, The Force will." The two former Jedi then sat down on the ground with their legs crossed, eyes closed, and hands folded on their laps, and meditated while they wait for Sig, Jinx, Ashelin, and Torn to come back.


	28. Chapter 28: Raceday

Chapter 28: Race Day

Finally. The Boonta Eve Classic has finally dawned over the planet of Tatooine, and the sell-out crowd was electric at the Grand Arena in Mos Espa. Fans of all different species gathered on this special holiday to watch their brave racers tackle the terrain of the deadly desert for three long laps around a ten-mile radius of the Galaxy's most treacherous pod racing track.

Fifty racers representing fifty different species from fifty different systems all over the galaxy converged on the starting grid. One of the competitors that was valiant and daring enough to tackle his greatest racing challenge yet, was Jak, who was starting at the rear of the field. Adorned in his blue racing gear, Jak paced through the grid with Daxter perched on his shoulder. They scanned their competition, sized up their pods, and stared at their opponents, who then scowled and sneered at them back.

The large crowd noticed him walk through the grid, and poured a massive rain of boos and jeers at them. However, with a face like stone, Jak failed to notice the animosity, and continued to walk towards the end of his pit, which was on the back end of the front straightaway. There, Keira (in her racing gear identical to Jak's, but in a purple color), Tym, Ratchet, and Clank waited for him as his four crewmembers. Tess, Ahsoka, and Master Windu looked on from the front seat of the grandstands. The two Jedi were cloaked, hooded, and unidentified by the crowd.

As Jak approached Keira in the pits, she asked him, "All set?"

"Yeah," Jak loudly whispered, "I'm ready to go."

"Good." Keira accepted, then handed Jak a small device, "Take this," she said as she placed it softly on his palm, "you'll need it."

"What is it?" Jak asked.

Keira explained, "It's an earpiece, so you can hear your spotter. Daxter will be on top of the spotter's stand looking out for you." Then, she pulled out a tablet and handed it to Daxter, who hopped onto the ground. She told the Ottsel, "Take this, it has a camera on Jak's pod so that you know what's around him." Surprisingly, the Ottsel nodded and scurried up towards the spotter's section, at the top of the grandstands.

"I don't think I'll be needing this." Jak rejected, and tried to hand it back.

"It's part of the regulation," Keira replied, "Every racer is required to have an earpiece that their spotter can talk through. How else are you gonna expect to survive?"

"The Force." Jak replied as he put the earpiece in. Keira rolled her eyes as the crowd suddenly cheered and looked on at the center balcony of the main grandstands, where Jabba and a few of his Hutt escorts slugged and slithered on the balcony and into the public. As an opening fanfare began to play, he waved at the crowd that roared even louder for his acknowledgement.

"I'll never understand how they even like this over sized banana slug." Daxter commented.

"Greetings fans and racers!" Jabba bellowed, "Today racers, your nerve and skill will be tested on this historic tradition in The Galaxy's most treacherous pod race. If by some chance one of you survives this deadly course, and wins this race, you will forever be indebted as a galactic hero. Your prize…" a few moments, he waited, and fans and racers alike perked up their ears, waiting to see what will be offered to the winner. He exclaimed, "A planet's supply worth of a new substance called 'Dark Eco!'"

"WHAT!?" Jak, Keira, Daxter, and everyone else exclaimed in shock as the large eco tanker pulled out onto the front straightaway. The fans cheered as they marveled at the sight of the prize. By far it was the biggest and most prestigious trophy in Boonta Eve history.

"Think, racers," Jabba continued, "A planet's supply worth of an illegal, yet powerful substance from an unknown world. Think, with all of that power, worth billions of credits, you could be able to start an Empire that can challenge our Empire! The reward is worth more than the risk of taking on this challenging course, and the stakes are higher than ever."

"If it's illegal," Keira pondered, "I wonder why he's putting it up as the prize for winning this damn thing?"

"Remember," Jabba concluded, "Only one of you will win, but the rest of you may die. I wish you luck today, but then luck won't help you. All racers to their pods!"

Jak turned to Keira, Tym, Ratchet, and Clank and told them, "Thank you guys, for all the hard work that we've done over the past few days. I know we have a fast pod today, but we've got a big hole we need to dig ourselves out of. We will win this race, and we will save this Galaxy, together."

"You'll do us proud, my boy!" Tym complimented, "We've all seen you do it before!"

"It has been an honor embarking on this journey with you, sir." Clank politely added on, "Regardless on what happens, we will find nothing but success."

"Just don't die out there, okay buddy?" Ratchet requested as he patted him on the shoulder, "We need you back."

"I'll be back, no matter what." Jak replied as he patted his shoulder back, then he turned to Keira, and looked into her emerald eyes for a few moments.

"Be careful out there, all right?" she softly pleaded as she approached him.

"Yeah, sure," Jak replied, "I will." They hugged, and then he kissed her on the lips for a split second.

Keira whispered, "I love you. Now go out there and win. You know what to do."

"And I love you, and I won't let you down, any of you." Jak replied as he broke off his embrace with her, and climbed inside his pod. He took out his red bandana, and tied around his neck so that the small, cherry-colored garment would conceal his mouth. He pulled his goggles over his eyes, and then fastened himself tightly with his safety harnesses. He placed his hands on the handlebars and zoned himself in the moment.

"_Use the Force, Jak,"_ the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn whispered to him, _"Concentrate, trust your instincts, and let the race come to you. You will win if you use patience. May The Force be with you."_

"Racers," Jabba shouted boldly, "START YOUR ENGINES!" With that command, all fifty pod racer engines roared to life. The racers thrusted their engines as they rumbled on the starting grid, itching to release their racing machines into the wasteland. Jak was the last racer to fire his engines as his pod stood still at the back of the grid.

'_Patience,'_ Jak thought to himself, _'Patience.'_

Jabba then took a large slug from a bowl beside him, and then bit off the head of the slug. He spat it out towards a gong, which ignited the first of green lights that hung overhead on the front stretch. Once that light turned on and the fans cheered, the race began. All fifty pods, ten rows deep, leaped from the starting grid and zoomed past the main grand stands, already swapping sheet metal with one another. As they came around the corner, the track thinned into a rugged canyon with plenty of large boulders and rocks to dodge.

Jak was hanging at the back of the field, creeping at the back of the pack with a considerable distance between him and the pod in front of him. As he was flying around the desert, Jak looked up the cliffs, and noticed that the Tusken Raiders were perched on top of the bluffs, opening fire at the other racers with their rifles. One of them aimed at Jak, and he instantly saw a vision of the Jedi that slaughtered the Sand People tribe that killed his mother. He saw the rage in his eyes as the Jedi stared them down with every strike of death. He then heard bullet shots from the side of his pod, causing him to come back to the race, and then veered side to side to avoid them.

"Uhh, Jak?" Daxter began to talk with a grimaced countenance as he looked at Jak's progress on the pad, "Just a reminder, you're in last place. Is everything all right?"

"What the hell is he doing?" Ratchet implored as he looked at Jak's same progress on the screen that Clank displayed, "He's only got three laps. He needs to go now if he has any chance of winning this damn thing."

"Patience, Ratchet." Keira calmed him.

Tym then approached her and barked, "You said he was a skilled and winning racer, and that he's won the hardest and deadliest races before! Surely this can't be his best!"

"It's not," Keira confirmed, "but he'll bring it back out. He's just got to wait for the right time."

Tym retorted, "You said that we can win this! You said The Force would be on our side!"

Keira calmed him, "We will, because The Force _is_ with us." She turned to everyone in the pits, "Have patience, guys. I know exactly what he's doing."

Jak was successful at veering from the bullets of the Sand People while other back markers were not. As they successfully sniped down and killed the racers in front of him, Jak was able to dodge the fiery debris that blazed in his path. He followed the other remaining pods through a narrow trench when Daxter chimed in on the radio:

"Jak! A bunch of pods are crashing into that dark cave up ahead!" He panicked, "There's a fiery explosion right at the entrance, so find another way around!"

Instead, Jak accelerated towards it as he caught a sight of the inferno blazing before him. Keira shielded her eyes as she looked at the footage streaming on Clank's screen, while Ratchet and Tym shivered with fear.

"Oh boy," Daxter sighed, "This isn't gonna end well."

Just before the scorching flames that erupted from the mouth of the cave approached Jak's pod, he closed his eyes and turned into his light eco form, using the flash-freeze technique that stopped time. The scorching flames instantly stopped and turned into a cool, breezy gust of wind as Jak raced his pod through the searing cave. He approached the collapsing rocks and pillars and the other exploding pods floating in slow motion as he swiftly glided past them all. By the time the flash-freeze expired, he blasted out from the other end of the cave, bolting himself from 30th to inside the top 10.

"WOOHOO!" Jak exclaimed as his pod erupted from the carnage of the burning cave, unscathed. Daxter sighed in relief while Keira, Ratchet, Clank, Tym, and Ahsoka, cheered. Master Windu, however, remained seated with a stern countenance.

He yelled with stimulated elation, "I'm through it, guys!"

"Thank The Precursors you are!" Daxter yelled back on the radio, "You almost gave me a heart attack after that stunt! Can you please try to not do any of that crap again!?"

"Can't promise you that, Dax." Jak replied, "I'm here to win!" With that, he proceeded to pass every pod, one by one, though the flat section of the course, until he raced down the front stretch in second place, right behind the leader's pod. As the pods crossed the line to complete the first lap, the second green light lit up, and the fans cheered for the man coming from deep in the pack to race for the win with two laps remaining. The crowd roared for their underdog, their symbol of hope, their source of inspiration, cheering him on to win the most prestigious pod race in the Galaxy.

"_He's gonna do it,"_ Keira whispered to herself, and then turned to Clank, "Hey Clank, see if you can pull up the roster for today's entrants and look them up on the galactic database, would ya?"

"Yes ma'am!" Clank affirmed as he followed with her orders, while monitoring Jak's progress on the screen. The field came to the rocky terrain of the course for the second time. The leader could actually feel and hear Jak's engines creeping up behind him. As the leader was dodging rocks, Jak took a slingshot move to the outside of him. In response, the race leader turned his pod into Jak's forcing him off course.

Jak took a glance at his pod, and noticed that it was far more advanced, polished, and powerful than his. The pod had a chrome paint cover with a clear visor surrounding the driver, who was adorned in Mandalorian soldier gear. The sliver twin turbines on the pod were similar to Jak's, except they had two pairs of boosters on each turbine, while Jak only had one each.

The Mandalorian's pod disengaged with Jak's as he was forced onto an off-ramp. Jak had trouble slowing down, so he ended up flying in mid-air over the landscape of the track, knocking down all of the Tusken Raiders perched onto the cliff in the process. While the rest of the field dashed their own hopes by crashing into the fallen Tusken Raiders, Jak flew over the trench where the leader had already crossed. Keira, Daxter, Ratchet, Clank, and Tym were all shivering, groaning, and holding their breath with anxiety, fearing that he would nosedive into a fatal crash landing.

He landed, right in front of the leader, but regained control of his pod, and darted away with the lead as his pod screamed through the cave. It all happened so fast that no one realized he had the lead until he emerged from the dark cave ahead of the Mandalorian pod racer. Then the crowd roared as he sprinted ahead of him through the flat plains of the desert.

"GO JAK!" Keira screamed as she saw him on screen.

"You got this, buddy!" Daxter chimed in on the radio. Underneath the bandana and goggles Jak was grinning from ear to ear and his eyes were beaming as he steamed through the desert. He nearly tasted the euphoria of victory with one lap to go, until he felt bullet holes bouncing off his pod. He knew it was the Mandalorian warrior using automatic blasters installed on his pod. His moment of elation grew into a sudden stint of fear. He veered left, then right, then left again, then right again, until the Mandalorian launched rockets at his pod. One of them actually knocked the tether off of the post on the right side of the pod. Causing Jak to spiral rapidly as both of his turbine engines were bursting with accelerated speed, blue eco, and flames. He couldn't slow down, he couldn't relieve the damage done, and he tried everything.

Everyone back in the pits held their breath and the fans gasped out of fear, as they were beginning to watch their underdog spiral to his painful death. Just before he was about to crash into the wall, Jak used The Force to grab the tether and clip it back on to the post, causing the engines to cool down to their normal state, and thus, slow down. He shut the engines off and coasted the pod into his pit, where Keira, Ratchet, Clank, and Tym were waiting to service their valiant racer.

"Jak! You okay buddy!?" Daxter yelled on the radio.

"The good news is, the accelerator isn't locked," Jak diagnosed swiftly, "The bad news is the engines are still overheated and won't re-fire. I'm coming in!"

With that, Jak slid his pod to a halt, and the team went to work. While Tym worked on refueling the turbines with blue eco, Ratchet and Clank went to work on repairing the thrust cones and acceleration circuits that were damaged, as well as removing some of the protective body panels, to help reduce weight and cool the engines off faster.

While the crew worked feverishly to get Jak back out on track, Keira swiftly approached an agitated, but calm driver sitting in the cockpit.

"Jak?" She began to speak to him, "I hate to break it to you, but there's no way we're gonna win this now."

"How do you figure?" Jak replied,

"Well," she continued, "even though these are easy repairs, they're still gonna put you far enough behind where you can't catch the leader. Besides, he's one of the forty-nine other entrants in this race that are registered bounty hunters that work for the Empire. The race is rigged! Jabba played us by hiring all of these bounty hunters to compete against each other for the eco as the prize! He's got a shady deal going for The Empire, and is looking to make a huge profit off of them. This 'bet' is designed for you to lose!"

"So that's it?" Jak complained, "It's over?"

"I'm afraid so," Keira solemnly affirmed, "we're gonna have to withdraw from the race, and come up with a 'Plan B' to get the eco."

"Let's go Jak!" Ratchet commanded as the repairs were completed. He turned to Ratchet, then turned to Keira, then Ratchet again, then back to Keira. This made the Lombax so restless he cried, "What are you waiting for!?"

Then, Jak looked forward out into the racetrack and grumbled, "Screw Plan B." He turned back into his light eco form to freeze time, re-fired the engines, and then streaked off into the deep desert for the final lap of the race. He was using every last burst those turbine engines could take, knowing they could blow up and destroy the pod at any moment. Death suddenly became a real possibility for him in this race, but he failed to acknowledge or care about it. He ignored any warning sign that could possibly thwart him from gaining the ground he lost. He just wanted to win. At this moment, that was all he cared about.

By the time his light powers wore off, he entered through the thin trench back in second place, chomping away at the Mandalorian's lead once they both emerged from the trench, Jak was in striking distance of him. As they dove their pods into the dark cave, the Mandalorian dropped land mines all over Jak's path, detonating with massive explosions as he hovered over them. Flames engulfed his sight and rocks dropped on his machine, but none of that stopped him from trying to keep going.

As they both emerged from the cave, Jak pulled up right behind the leader, and was one overtake away from winning the race. He swung left, he swung right, but the Mandalorian racer closed the door on him every time he tried to pass him. Once Jak pulled up right beside him, but then the leader bumped into his side, forcing him to veer over towards a rock standing in the middle of the desert plain. Jak looped around it, and promptly tucked back in behind the leader.

"Please, Jak," Daxter implored with anxiety on the radio, "Don't do anything stupid to get yourself killed!"

"Dax," Jak boldly responded, "His ass is mine!" Then he attempted the slingshot to get around the leader, one last time, as they both saw the finish line rapidly approaching before them. Both of their engines were burning and fuming with exhaustion, smoking and steaming to get one last burst in, hoping that they had enough to cross the line. The Mandalorian vigorously shoved his pod up against Jak's one last time, and they were on a collision course towards the entrance wall of the front stretch. The Mandalorian thought this would do it and that he would win. But Jak had other plans…

"Eat wall!" Jak yelled as he pulled on his brake levers to stop the pod, which sent the Mandalorian's racing machine careening into the concrete wall, disintegrating every last part of the racer into balls of flames that sprouted from the massive explosion. Only the pod was intact, and he rolled violently on the front stretch before coming to rest on his lid, without any further damage.

"NO!" Jabba shouted with disappointment and fury as he watched his pre-race favorite crash into a ball of flames.

As Jak's pod streaked across the finish line, the crowd erupted with a thunderous applause and a rain of cheers. He skidded his pod to a stop as the engines expired, removed his bandana, lifted up his goggles, stood up on the seat of the pod, smiled, and waved at the crowd, screaming for him as the fanfare played once more. He turned around, to see his entire team running to him. Overjoyed that he was the only racer remaining that survived. Keira led them all as she ran to him, clapping her hands rapidly with joy. Then came Daxter, Ratchet, Clank, Tym, Tess, and Ahsoka. All came to celebrate the victorious upset with him. All, but Mace Windu.

Keira screamed with pure joy as Jak hoped down from the pod racer to embrace her and twirl her around. She laughed and yelled, "YOU DID IT!"

"No," Jak boldly replied as he looked into her eyes, "_We _did it. All of us!" He broke off the embrace and declared, "Everyone involved was a huge part of this win. I owe it all to you guys."

"And we owe it all to The Galaxy!" Ratchet added on, "We have a chance of saving it again!"

"Thank the Precursors we do!" Daxter yelled as he hopped on Jak's shoulder once more, "I tell ya what buddy, you about had me scared for you pretty much the entire time!"

Jak chuckled, "I always try to make it exciting, don't I?"

Tym congratulated him by shaking his hand vigorously and shouted, "We're proud of you, my boy! I thought we were goners for sure but I also knew in the back of my brain you had it in ya to win this darn thing!"

Keira then turned to everyone and declared, "You know what guys, I feel that The Force is truly at work for us. Not just today, but since The Empire came and took over our planet. We've been through a lot of hardships worse than we ever faced in our entire lives. We've been chased throughout the entire Galaxy with targets on our backs, and every day it's been getting harder for us. I mean, every system we go to we have more allies on our side. Before we were fugitives that were wanted dead, and now we're symbols of hope!" She finished by turning to her husband, "Jak, what you did today shows an example on how we can make a big impact on an entire Galaxy! I knew leaving home wasn't the worst thing in the world even though the circumstances were detrimental. They know your story. Now they see who you really are, and they believe in you. They believe in us. If you inspired yourself to come all this way to stand up for what is right, then we can inspire the entire Galaxy to do the same! We are doing something that is bigger than all of us, and I have a feeling that hope is around the corner!"

"I have a feeling you're right." Ahsoka concurred as the large dark eco tanker pulled up right behind the winning race team, all for them to claim it. They all turned around to gaze the immense structure with wonder, admiration, relief, and glory. Not only did they claim the winning prize of the biggest race of The Galaxy, they claimed the penultimate prize of everyone's hearts that day.

"Let's get the eco and get out of here." Jak instructed to the group.

"Don't worry!" Tym declared, "I worked on this big bird, I know how to operate it!" And he ran off towards the tanker, Jak turned around and noticed the Mandalorian warrior emerging from his wreckage, with a pistol in hand, aiming at him. For some reason, that was the least of his concern. He sensed that something was wrong with the tanker. He sensed that something was not right with the compartments inside of it. In fact, the more he sensed it, the more he worried, and worried, and worried. Until…

"TYM! NO!" Jak suddenly turned around and shouted. Once Tym tried to ignite the engines that powered the tanker, the whole shipping apparatus exploded and created a massive purple mushroom cloud that spread to a 500-mile radius. The whole planet quaked and shook with seismic waves as the explosion spread, poisoning the desert with radiation from an unknown purple substance. Tym's body was disintegrated from the explosion, as was the entire tanker that spread the width of the entire racetrack. The grand stadium of Mos Espa was no more.


	29. Chapter 29: The Return of Errol

Chapter 29: The Return of Errol

The Crew emerged from Keira's eco shield unharmed as the explosion subsided, and they all stood up looking around the wreckage that destroyed the Mos Espa arena. Most of the spectators were dead, few were wounded, but the ones that remained living shrieked with fear and sprinted frantically away from the aftermath. Jak and Keira slowly walked over to Tym's limp corpse that was burning inside the false eco tanker. They couldn't feel anything but sorrow for him.

Jak bent down and noticed a light purple substance dripping from one of the holes of the "wrecked tanker." He dabbed it with his two fingers, observed it, smelled it, and concluded, "It's a trick! This isn't even dark eco. It's plasmite! The Empire somehow knew we were after it."

Keira crouched down over Tym's body, rested her hand on his charred face, and quivered as she shed a tear, "I'm sorry, Vin. I wish we could've known earlier so we could save him. But it's okay. You guys are together again now. Finally. At last."

"VIN!?" Daxter chirped, "Why the hell are you apologizing to him!?"

"Because," Keira started.

"Tym was Vin's father." Jak finished.

Daxter looked at the dead body, puzzled, and then figured it out. "Ooooohhhhhhhhhh. I get it! They were both kooky mechanical 'geniuses!' It all makes sense now!"

"Yes, it does, doesn't it?" A voice bellowed from the top of the ruins of the stadium. That prompted everyone to stand up and look towards that direction, staring at a stoic black figure with a cape whistling with the wind. The figure drew a red light saber out as he continued, "Such a shame, a father and son die at separate times, never to see each other for one last time. You would know a lot about that wouldn't you…Jak?" As he finished stepping down the ruins of the stadium, his face was revealed. Jak's old arch nemesis had been given a third chance at life, and he was more bloodthirsty for revenge than ever before.

"Errol!" Jak shouted as he drew his blue-bladed light saber, "How are you alive!? You became one of Vader's pawns, didn't you?"

"Yes…"Errol hissed as he became face to face with his enemy, "Do you see what you have made me now? Do you see what I must do to survive, because of everything that YOU destroyed for me? I had it all, and you took EVERYTHING from me! Damn you, you eco freak!"

"You have done all of that yourself." Jak retorted, "If Baron Praxis didn't corrupt you in the first place, you would've never consumed yourself with dark eco to destroy our home, and you definitely would've never fallen for Vader's scheme now!"

"My master's plan is much more grand than you think," Errol argued, "I shouldn't tell you, but long-story short, it involves killing you and your friends first…"

"That'll never happen, you slimy, wretched, bucket-brain!" Keira boldly stood forward as she drew her purple-bladed light saber. She walked from behind Jak to in front of him and continued, "You have no idea what YOUR Empire plans to do with this universe!"

"Ahh, Keira!" Errol greeted her, "Oh how I've missed you! And how I pity for you, that you unwisely chose this dark eco freak over me in the end. This loser that didn't even save his own planet and his own people when it mattered the most."

"How would you know?" Keira snapped, "You weren't even breathing when all of that happened. Besides, judging by the looks of you now, I would say that marrying this "eco freak" was the best decision I ever made!"

"SILENCE!" Errol shouted as he lifted his light saber to strike her down.

"BACK OFF!" Jak yelled as he used The Force to push Errol back ten feet before he could swing at her.

"Let me fight him with you." Keira pleaded softly to her husband.

"You'll have your chance, believe me." He replied.

"Ah ah ah! Careful, Jak. Temper, temper!" Errol began to taunt him, "We all know what happens when you get…angry. It was once your strength, now it's my advantage."

"How do you figure?" Jak asked.

"Because," Errol answered, "I have earned a power that not even The Precursors could control, a power beyond your wildest imaginations."

"You said that the last time, metal monkey!" Daxter interrupted.

"Oh…but this power is nothing like that, I assure you. The Dark Side of The Force is so powerful not even you would understand. I used that power to make the Dark Makers regain my trust, as I am the bridge that joins them with The Empire! I crashed one of those Dark Maker ships onto this planet, thinking that you would search for supplies that you need to win your pathetic little race, a race I could've easily won in more convincing fashion. But I refused to let that happen, so I sprung the trap in that ship, and tried to kill you and your fellow Jedi friends that way." Keira turned to Jak with disgust, and then glared right back at Errol who continued, "Although, I must say I wasn't expecting you to destroy the entire ship on your own. I am impressed with you on that, but that just called them all to join The Empire, so we as a unified militia, can wipe out all the remaining Jedi left in The Universe! Including you…"

"Apparently I didn't do a good enough job 'killing' you these past couple of times," Jak boldly implored as he pointed his blade towards Errol, "So I guess third time's the charm!"

Errol only chuckled in response, "I wouldn't be too sure." As he finished, a whole army of Storm Troopers ran over the mountain and opened fire towards the remaining spectators, prompting Ahsoka, Master Windu, and Ratchet to draw their weapons, ready to defend themselves. Commander Creed led the fray, adorning black armor and an open-faced Imperial helmet, drawing an electro-staff and a pistol.

Errol charged at Jak and Keira, swinging at both of them with his light saber. They both blocked each of his strikes three times. Frustrated, Errol furiously leapt and swing his blade hard over them, careening his tip to the ground. Jak and Keira ducked and rolled, got back up, and charged at the dark eco Cyborg. Jak swung, spun, and clashed blades with Errol in all directions, before locking blades with him.

That prompted Keira to deliver an open hit to the body. She slashed his right shoulder and created a cut on the side. That prompted Errol to break off the lock he had with Jak, as he proceeded to scream in agonizing pain. He stepped back, held his opposite hand over the wound for a few moments, and then let it go as he glared at his two combatants.

Panting with rage, Errol charged up a dark eco ball with is right hand and threw it at Keira, causing her to fly a few feet in the air before temporarily resting unconscious on the ground, while Tess flew even further away from the scene. Before Jak could comprehend that situation and fume himself up to stimulate his dark powers, Errol leapt towards him and wildly struck at him. Panicked, Jak tried to block as many strikes from Errol as he could, but would remain helpless when Errol threw his steel elbow at his jaw, knocking him backwards. Then, Errol used The Force to lift him up off the ground, suffocated him, and then jettisoned him towards a large pile of crumbled rubble, knocking Daxter to the ground in a different direction.

Meanwhile, Master Windu, Ahsoka, and Ratchet were doing a fair job at fending off themselves from the wave of storm troopers. While Ratchet shot down as many storm troopers as he could with every weapon he had in his arsenal, Ahsoka and Master Windu stood back and simply deflected bullets with their light sabers back to charging troopers. Commander Creed pranced around the area until he caught sight of The Lombax. He glared at Ratchet with fierce rage, and stared him down.

"YOU! LOMBAX!" The Commander bellowed as he dropped his pistol, prompting Ratchet to turn around.

"You…" Ratchet growled back at him.

"I thought I killed you back over Eco!" Creed exclaimed.

"You thought wrong…"Ratchet sneered, "and I'm glad it turned out that way, because now I can finish you off the way I wanted to! You're gonna pay for what you've done to Talwyn."

"Well," Creed continued, "At least I was successful in dispatching General Apogee. You 'Galactic Rangers' and the rest of your 'Halo Army' were a menace to The Republic!"

"You wrongfully killed innocent brave soldiers that wished to fight WITH The Republic, not against them!" Ratchet retorted.

"WRONG!" Commander Creed fired back, "You don't even know half the story of the army in which you command! Your regime, led by The Master Chief that served before you, pillaged and gutted my home world of Horus, taking away the innocent lives of men, women, and children."

"W-Well," Ratchet stammered, "I didn't lead them at that time! You attacked us for no reason with your Clone squadron! YOU KILLED MY FIANCEE!"

"Your 'soldiers' killed my family," Creed softly spoke as he removed his helmet, pointing at his scar, "They gave me this when I narrowly escaped."

"You can't blame me for something I didn't do." Ratchet defended.

"Enough talk!" Creed commanded, dropping his pistol, and gripping his electro-staff tightly, "I wish to finish this once and for all!"

"Gladly!" Ratchet declared, dropping his gun and grabbing his Omniwrench. He whispered softly, "This for you, Tal." Then he screamed and charged at the Imperial Commander charging toward him as well.

Meanwhile, Daxter struggled to get up and rubbed his eyes, surrounded by a massive cloud of dust. He turned around looked all around him until he caught a sight of Jak. Once he did, he noticed that he was lying helpless, trapped under large rocks of rubble, and Errol was walking towards him with his light saber drawn.

"Jak!" Daxter yelled in panic, "I'm coming for ya, buddy!" As he sprinted over to Jak's aid, a squadron of Imperial Troopers cut him off.

"You go nowhere, weasel." The lead trooper sneered. He opened fire at Daxter's feet, making him dance, scurry, and sprint in fear. He ran around in circles screaming as the troopers chased him around, until it got to the point when Daxter turned around and suddenly sprung up into his dark mutant form. He roared and beat his chest, then growled at the five troopers aiming their rifles at him. He swung his large arms, slashing them all with his long claws. He devoured them, roared, and then looked to his left, noticing that Ahsoka and Master Windu were struggling to fend off the army of Imperials. He rushed to their aid and became oblivious to Jak's wellbeing.

While all of that occurred, Errol removed the rubble that shrouded Jak by using The Force, and pointed his red blade right at Jak's grimacing face. Jak was hurting, struggling to get up. He grunted as he sat himself up when he noticed that Errol was about to kill him.

Errol laughed with a grim grin, "Finally, at long last! After spending years in hellish purgatory, twice, dwelling on no one and nothing but you, nothing but this moment, I rose from the ashes again to fulfill the destiny that I have longed to deserve! You took everything that I have rightfully earned; my pride, my power, my glory, MY LIFE! And now, you will meet the eyes of Death when I deliver the strike that takes it all back for me, eco freak!" He then lifted his light saber up, ready to deliver the deathblow to the defenseless Jak.

Suddenly, Errol felt a fireball crash into the back of his head and he stumbled to one knee, saving Jak's life. Once Errol turned around to figure out where it came from, another fireball crashed into his face, blinding him temporarily. He screamed of pain for a split second, covered his eyes, and struggled to get back up. These attacks prompted Jak to spring up and discover that it was his wife that pelted his adversary with those fireballs. And they weren't fireballs either; Jak discovered that Keira was also able to channel yellow eco.

"My, my, my!" Errol marveled to Keira, "I guess you're not a green eco freak like you decrepit father after all. You're just another eco freak like Jak!"

"It's you that's the eco freak, Errol!" Keira argued back, "You're the one that has dark eco flowing through your bloodstream!"

"And your pathetic husband doesn't?" Errol asked her.

"One," Keira listed, "he's not 100% dark, you didn't care to discover that about him. Which leads to two; at least we aren't corrupt with The Dark Side of The Force!"

"Is that so?" Errol inquired as he heard Jak ignite his weapon right behind him. He noticed this, and levitated him up off the ground, suffocating him once more. He sneered, "Well then, let's put your eco skills to the test!" He flung Jak towards her, which then lead to Keira using The Force to grab him, set him down slowly, then swiftly charging after the eco cyborg.

Errol tried to strike his weapon towards her in quick and rapid movements, but he was unsuccessful since she used her blue eco powers to zoom around his attacks. Then, she channeled her frustration into an unusual form of strength for her; perplexed, she noticed some red eco boiling out of her fists that clenched the hilt of her light saber. But she didn't spend much time pondering her new eco abilities as she furiously swung her sword at Errol's. The strikes produced by the red eco were so powerful and pungent, each one knocked Errol back a few feet, eventually knocking him on the ground.

Keira pointed the tip of her light saber right in between Errol's eyes and sneered, "I married a guy who IS tough, not someone who ACTS tough like you!"

Errol screamed, then extended his long arm and grasped it around her neck. He used dark eco to create a pulse that shocked her. The shock traversed from her neck down to her feet, and she screamed of agonizing pain, prompting Jak to wake up and witness the sight far away from him. Her body became temporarily paralyzed and she fell limp to the ground.

While all of that occurred, Ratchet was still dueling with Commander Creed. The Lombax swung his Omniwrench towards the Imperial Commander, driving him back, and blocking all of his strikes. He swung with such violence, such aggression; it was hard for Creed to keep up. Eventually, Ratchet used his wrench to sweep the commander's legs, dropping him on his back as his helmet fell off his head. Ratchet clenched the head of his large wrench around the commander's neck, choking him.

"It's over…" Ratchet growled as he grasped the wrench on his neck harder, causing his head to swell like an inflated balloon, "You'll never harm anyone again after I'm done with you." Out of a sudden burst of desperation, Commander Creed grabbed his electro-staff and swung one of its electric ends at Ratchet's knee, stunning him and causing him to drop his wrench. Then, Creed mercilessly beat and tortured Ratchet with his staff, hitting him in all areas from his head, to his shoulders, back, then legs, but he refused to go down. He dodged one of Creed's strikes to pick his wrench back up and continued fighting him.

In the midst of this destructive fracas, Clank stood helplessly, looking around, feeling like a small child in an adult world. He didn't feel threatened by a bit, even though he saw the others struggling to fend off the Imperial Army. He saw Daxter pelted with bullets from Imperial blasters and he saw Ahsoka and Master Windu cornered. He saw Jak and Keira struggle to fend off Errol. He really felt ashamed of himself when he saw Commander Creed beginning to dominate over his best friend, Ratchet. He wanted to help. He wanted to help them all. He instead thought he could not. He didn't know he had a little bit more in store inside of his small body until a trio of Storm Troopers held him at gunpoint.

"He's harmless," One of the troopers scoffed, "Lord Vader will have fun dismantling him…again." The troopers laughed, which caused Clank's eyes to glow from green to red.

He then screamed a deep but booming scream that no one had ever heard before, not even Ratchet. As everyone turned their heads after they heard this, Clank began to transform. His small frame suddenly grew, and grew, and grew, until he was about thirty-feet tall, towering over most of the Imperial artillery and even the mutant Daxter. His left arm suddenly became a large but powerful blaster that he first used to fire at one of the oncoming Imperial Walkers, destroying it with one red eco rocket. His left arm transformed into a contraption with a spinning gyro disk with two needles rapidly tapping on it, causing yellow eco bullets to ricochet into a battalion of at least twenty Storm Troopers. Then his head slunk down into his neck, and was cased with a glass dome. Sprouting from his back were three tentacles that beamed a type of blue eco that vaporized oncoming TIE fighters. The most diabolical and most destructive portion of his transformed frame was his chest; it opened up into a massive dark eco reactor, one that was powerful enough for obliterating up to three Star Destroyers.

"Keira…" Jak whispered to himself as he gingerly stood himself up, "what the hell did you do to him?"

"Showoff." The mutant Daxter commented as the giant Clank winked at him. As Daxter leapt and crawled upward toward his shoulder, the Imperial Army frantically retreated.

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" The lead Storm Trooper shrieked with fear as he and his fellow soldiers sprinted away from the giant robot that was firing every weapon he had.

Looking at the chaos the giant was causing to his army for a brief moment, Errol turned back to Keira and shouted as he pointed his blade at her, "YOUR'E WRONG!" She looked up as he continued to declare, "I will show the Galaxy what it means to be 'tough.' My plan in place will rule over every system in the Universe, including the planet in which the Precursors originally came, and including our home! The Dark Makers will be mine, The Empire will be mine, and I will rule over EVERYONE! Including you, and your pathetic husband! I will accomplish this by using the ultimate power of darkness; one that will vanquish all that is good left everywhere, including you! And there is nothing you can do to stop me!"

As Errol was about to strike Keira down, Jak in his light from released a beam of light eco from his hands at a far distance, and knocked Errol to the ground. Jak then rushed to his wife and reached his hand out to her. She looked up at her light eco angel, and grabbed his hand, pulling herself up. They drew their weapons as Errol stood up. He was slightly damaged, but still fully mobile as he flew towards them to continue to fight.

Ratchet and Creed continued their duel, but this time it was the Imperial Commander that had the advantage over the Lombax. As the Commander drove him back, he was able to pelt his adversary's limbs with the two edges of his electrostaff, causing a conduit of electricity to stun Ratchet's body every time he got shocked. After suffering ten shocks from him, Ratchet finally fell to the ground, lying on his back, looking up at the sight of Creed towering over him, who was also pointing the tip of his staff down towards his heart, ready to thrust it through him.

"Finally," Creed growled, "The last Lombax to ever exist in the Galaxy will perish under the strike from The Empire."

"NO!" Someone suddenly shouted. It was Ahsoka, who came out of nowhere after fending herself off from a horde of Storm Troopers to use The Force to push Creed out of Ratchet's way. The Commander tumbled on the sand and eventually smashed his face onto a rock, knocking him unconscious. She and Master Windu rushed to his aid.

"Are you all right?" The Togruta asked The Lombax.

"Y-yeah…"Ratchet strained as he stood up and balanced himself on the shoulders of the two Jedi aiding him. He turned to Ahsoka, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Ahsoka replied, "You're a life worth saving."

Ratchet smiled, then asked his fellow companions, "Where's Clank?" They frowned at him, looked towards the direction where the giant was walking towards, prompting Ratchet to look the same way. He gasped, "Oh no…"

Clank continued to wreak havoc over the Imperial Forces. One by one, any and every form of arsenal that they had was quickly obliterated by a large array of Clank's weapons. Star Destroyers moved in and frantically fired at the giant, but he refused to go down. They got one lucky shot off and hit the mutant Ottsel, causing Daxter to fall down from the giant's shoulders as he shrunk back down to his normal self. As he landed hard on the ground, he sat himself up, and scratched his head. He heard a voice in the distance.

"DAXTER!" He heard someone yell, he opened his eyes, and his vision was blurred. He could see faint orange but couldn't tell exactly who it was. "DAXTER!" he heard again. It was Tess who was calling to him, and helped him stand up straight as she wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She asked him, "Are you okay?"

"I don't feel too good." The groggy Ottsel replied.

"Ratchet just called The Renegade over here to pick us up," Tess told him, "I need to get you over there with him and Ahsoka. Master Windu will be there too."

"Wh-what about Jak and Keira?" Daxter asked her.

"I think they'll find their way over to us," She replied with haste, "but we have little time! We need to get over there!"

While Daxter worried about what could happen to his two best friends, Jak, still in his light form, helped Keira fend off a charging Errol. Now filled with rage, the Dark Eco cyborg crackled with dark eco pulsing throughout his artificial veins, and his eyes glowed a deep red and yellow. He growled as he sprung up towards Jak, swinging his blade at him vigorously as Jak blocked all of his strikes. Keira tried the sneak attack once more, but Errol quickly turned around and locked blades with her. At the same time, he fired off quick bursts of dark eco energy from his hand, trying to aim for Jak behind him, but he was successful in blocking off all of those shots.

While all of this occurred, military officials in the lead Star Destroyer were panicking over the giant attacking the Imperial Fleet.

"There's nothing that we can do sir!" One officer shouted at The Admiral, "We've hit him with everything we got!"

"The only way to destroy that giant," the other officer hypothesized, "is that we detonate all of the dark eco we have in that tanker right by him."

"And we can't afford to lose any of that dark eco," The Admiral concluded, "Because Lord Vader requests it be brought to him." He ordered, "Send down a shuttle to pick up Errol and Commander Creed from the battlefield, and order a full-scale retreat! And deploy the shields on the eco tanker, so that nothing can destroy it!"

As he noticed the Imperial Fleet retreating, Errol broke off the stalemate between him and Keira, used The Force to push her down, and then flipped and leapt backwards towards the dark eco tanker. He stopped at about 300 feet away from it when he noticed that Jak was charging towards him and hurling light eco fireballs at him, but Errol was able to dodge and block them all with his light saber.

As the eco tanker prepared for takeoff, he declared, "I really enjoy playing with you freaks, but I'm afraid I must be going. I have a Universe to take over!"

"NO YOU WON'T!" Jak shouted as he streamed a beam of light eco from his hand towards Errol. In response, Errol blasted a ray of dark eco from his hand and clashed it with Jak's light eco beam, creating a massive orb of eco energy right in the middle.

"Jak, no…" Keira quivered as she retracted her light saber.

"KEIRA! JAK!" She heard Ahsoka call out to her, and noticed she was already on board of The Renegade, with the ventral door hanging down. She was grabbing onto one of the railings with one hand, and motioning her frantically with the other. She screamed, "We have to leave, now! Let's go!" Keira hesitated. She looked at Jak struggling with Errol, then looked at everyone else on board, and went back and forth frantically a few times, until she ultimately decided to stand by her husband. Clank however, shrunk back down into his normal form after most of the Imperial Fleet left, and rushed to hop on board of the ship as it hovered slightly behind Jak and Keira.

Jak and Errol's eco standoff was a struggle for the ages. Both men grunted and grimaced as one tried to push his eco beam towards the other. The beams fluctuated in opposite directions several times, but ultimately, the central orb was fixed equidistant from the two adversaries. The orb of eco energy grew larger, and larger, until it created a seismic explosion throughout the desert, sending Jak and Errol flying in opposite directions.

Errol landed inside the dark eco tanker right when its shields deployed and immediately took off away from Tatooine's atmosphere. Jak and Keira were jettisoned back into the cockpit of The Renegade as the ship's passenger hangar closed shut. Ratchet was able to recover fast enough to fly back towards Jabba's palace to collect the supplies the crew left behind.


	30. Chapter 30: Turmoil

Chapter 30: Turmoil

"You knew…" Keira growled with displeasure as she leaned over with her arms clenching the windowsill of their room inside the ship, staring out at the carnage of once was Mos Espa raceway, with the stream of smoke drawing further and further away from her sight.

"What?" Jak piped.

Keira turned around and scowled, then screamed, "You knew all of this time that the Dark Makers returned, AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER TELLING ME!?"

"What was I supposed to do?" Jak retorted, "I didn't want to abandon the mission! I didn't want you to worry about a thing and stay on the task at hand!"

"If you would've told me," Keira argued, "I would've aborted our plan and found another way out of here!"

"And then what!?" Jak snapped, "Walk into The Empire's trap!? Keira, you saw them. They were waiting for us. There's no way we could've sensed something was wrong long before-"

"Well you knew Errol was alive and that he'd show up here!" Keira interrupted him.

"No I didn't!" He pleaded.

She snapped back, "Don't you dare lie!"

"Keira," Jak spoke softly, "I honestly didn't know that Errol came back to life again. I had my suspicions, but I thought it would be impossible for THE THIRD TIME! And even if I did know, it wouldn't have made a difference. The Empire was ready to capture us."

"So the better alternative was to wait for us to be ambushed!?" Keira interrupted once more, "Oh yeah! Real genius plan 'hero!' We almost died during that onslaught! It would've been better if we aborted the original plan and snuck out of here early!"

"How?" Jak retorted once more, "Did you SEE the forces that they brought in JUST for us? Keira, we were lucky to survive! If we would've left in deep space early, we would've already been dead!"

"Yeah we lived," Keira agreed "but you fail to realize that there are other people out there! Almost EVERYONE in that stadium DIED! Not to mention that our friends MIGHT be in trouble!"

"You don't know that!" Jak shouted back, "And neither do I. No one knows. Who knows what they're up to?"

"Which is why they are now our main concern!" Keira began to suggest, "Which is why we should go to Dromund-Kaas and meet them there so we can destroy the dark eco and shut down The Empire's manufacturing plant!"

"Are you insane!?" Jak snapped back, "We survived by the skin of our teeth from an Imperial Fleet, fighting them all off by like, a million to eight! Do you really think all of us dealing with the billions of Imperial Arsenal that they have down there will give us the same result we had today!? Fat chance."

"Do you have any better suggestions?" Keira asked.

Jak thought for a moment, then boldly answered with one word; "Korriban."

The argument between the two of them intensified soon after Jak said that. Everyone else was sitting in the cockpit of the ship as they heard Jak and Keira indistinctively yell back and forth at each other. Ratchet was flying on the left side, Clank sat in the middle, and Ahsoka sat on the right. Behind them, the two ottsels stood on separate seats (Daxter stood on Ratchet's, while Tess stood on Ahsoka's), constantly glaring at each other. Master Windu stood behind them all in the shadows, arms folded, grimaced in disgust. The rest of the crew moaned, groaned, rolled their eyes, and buried their faces in pure agitation as Keira and Jak's argument intensified.

"Well…" Daxter began, "Glad I ain't in that pickle. You see, this is why I never want to get married; it's because I would have to deal with that crap non stop!"

"It's not just marriage you know," Tess huffed, "It's love in general."

"How would you know about that?" Daxter snapped back.

"Because I know what love is," Tess quivered, "or at least I did. Once…"

"So, what's your point?" Daxter asked again, "What are you trying to get at, Tessy-kins? Let me-"

"You have no right to call me that!" Tess shrieked as she hopped down from the chair that she was on, "I HATE IT WHEN YOU CALL ME THAT!"

"SHEESH!" Daxter groaned as he hopped down from his chair, "What's gotten into you!?"

"YOU! DAXTER!" Tess yelled back, "YOU ARE THE REASON WHY I AM SO LONELY ALL THE TIME!"

"ME!?" Daxter began to inquire, "What the hell did I do!?"

"YOU IGNORE ME!" Tess answered, "ALL THE DAMN TIME! I changed into the form willingly so that I could be with you! BECAUSE I LOVED YOU! I felt like I'm tagged along this 'quest' of ours for nothing!"

"Well, you're here aren't you?" Daxter replied.

"No," Tess mumbled, then yelled, louder and louder as he approached him, "I'm not here at all! I mean, I'm here with you guys, but I don't feel like I have a real role to play around here. And you, neglecting me, and treating me like all of the other 'ladies' that you go on dates with, make me feel worse! You treat me like a piece of meat! I AM NOT A PIECE OF MEAT!"

"Well SORRY for me causing your uselessness!" Daxter yelled back, "Maybe, if you made yourself more known by actually DOING stuff around here, you'd probably make yourself more noticeable!"

"UGH!" Tess groaned as she stormed off down the hallway, away from Daxter.

"What!?" Daxter pleaded as he chased after her, "It was just a suggestion!"

The Ottsel's argument carried over toward a different room adjacent to Jak and Keira's and their combined noises intensified. Penetrating sound waves that consisted of intense screaming and yelling soon filled the entire interior of The Renegade. Master Windu plugged his ears hard until he finally broke;

"THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT! WITH ALL OF THIS ARGUING IN THIS FORSAKEN STAR SHIP! All we end up doing is dividing instead of unifying! All of this bickering nonsense will prohibit us from accomplishing what we have to do! I'm sure, Little Ahsoka, your constant bickering with the Lombax here will only add fuel to the fire. I can't stand anymore of this. It's time to take matters into my own hands. I just need to meditate to find out how." He proceeded to storm off into a room he would find of his own, where he would struggle to meditate in peace.

Instead of Ratchet and Ahsoka arguing up a storm like Master Windu predicted, there was actually a sense of peace and serenity between them despite the turmoil still surrounding them. For the first time, they looked at each other, and cracked smiles for each other. It was a simple and subtle gesture of friendship and bonding.

Ratchet stuttered nervously, "H-Hey, thanks again for saving my life back there. I really owe you one for that."

Ahsoka replied eloquently, "Not a problem at all. It's what we Jedi are trained to do. We fight so we can help those who are unable to help themselves, even if they try to sometimes."

"Well, that's just it," Ratchet continued, "I feel like I can't even help myself sometimes. I feel like I can't help anyone. Everyone I have come to know and love ends up being lost. I'm shocked I still have Clank around me, and he's come back from the dead I don't know how many times!"

"You hide a lot of guilt," Ahsoka diagnosed, "and a lot of pain. You suffer from the guilt of losing the ones you love the most. A lot of people; especially this, Talwyn."

"You never even knew me while that happened," Ratchet snapped, "nor did you ever knew Talwyn. How do you even come up with this? Are you using some Jedi Mind Trick or something?"

"No…" Ahsoka spoke softly, "I just know exactly how you're feeling. I know your story, Ratchet. And believe me, I've suffered from loss too. Technically I'm not actually a Jedi because…well…I was excommunicated by the Jedi order and was about to be sentenced to death by the Courts of the Republic for a bombing at the Jedi Temple, a crime that I did not even commit. My master saved me from such brutal punishments when he discovered that it was my best friend who framed me. They welcome me back. Anakin welcomed me back. But I walked away, because I felt like the Jedi turned their back on me when I needed them most, and I felt like I couldn't trust myself with what I was doing."

She continued as her voice started to break from tears, "I lost a lot of companions, I lost my best friend, and I lost my master that day. The only reason why I came back was because I could sense that the Jedi Order was in trouble, and since I was a part of them, I felt it was only right to help out. I saw Anakin rush through the hallways to save the Chancellor, as he should have, because it's the Jedi way. But ever since then, things changed for the worst, and I feel like I am responsible for all of that."

As she broke down sobbing while burying her teary face underneath her hands, Ratchet came over to her, kneeled next to her, and patted her shoulder softly. He replied, "Well, you shouldn't feel bad about that after all. At the end of the day, you made your choices, so did he. You have nothing to regret over. These people, these Jedi, they've watched over you for your entire life. I mean, I get that your master had a sense of obligation to keep you around, but at the end of the day, he can only coddle you for so long. Eventually, you had to become wise enough to make YOUR own decision. YOU had to decide what was right for yourself. YOU chose to walk away because you felt it was the right thing to do."

Ratchet stood up, turned around, and continued, "In fact, if it were me in your shoes, I probably would've done the same thing. I mean, it would suck being betrayed like that and all, especially for something you didn't even do. After that, I wouldn't know whom to trust. But what matters is that you came back out of honor, and that's why you're with us. You can only control so much, Ahsoka. At the end of the day, other people make their own decisions that THEY are responsible for. You can't protect everyone, even though you've had that obligation thrusted down upon you since you were born. I know The Force exist, as does eco, but ultimately, YOU are the master of YOUR own destiny. YOU are the captain of YOUR soul.

"Well," Ahsoka looked up to Ratchet, "I think you have the answer to your problem."

"Huh," Ratchet turned to the side in slight epiphany, but asked again, "I still don't get it! Why can't people in general follow their own advice; the same advice they give to others?"

"Because," Ahsoka replied, "People don't have enough courage to take matters into their own hands. That's why we're all here together, helping each other-"

"So we can help them." Ratchet finished.

Ahsoka smiled and nodded, "Yes."

The two engaged in a small, but lively conversation full of laughter and friendship. The turmoil and the animosity that once antagonized the two companions seemed to have simmered down into more of a friendship bond. Amidst the ambient arguing around them, they swapped war stories, listened to their own personalities come to life, and mended their differences by omitting them.

Meanwhile….

"We are NOT going to Korriban!" Keira demanded.

"Keira, you don't understand," Jak pleaded, "We know by now what The Empire is capable of. We need to destroy more than their infrastructure-"

"That's all the Empire IS it's infrastructure, Jak!" Keira retorted.

"Do you have any idea who's running the show around here?" Jak softly asked, "Not only are there a bunch of troopers, weapons, generals, admirals, and whatever the hell they have over there, but you now have the crazy, dark eco-fueled maniac from home chasing us around for the THIRD time, controlling him is THE most notorious Jedi-Killer in The Galaxy, and you know who's on top of ALL of that? A senator, turned chancellor, turned tyrant, manipulating the Republic into this oppressive form of leadership that EVERYONE hates! And by the way, the last two people I named off? Sith Lords. They're already expanding their territory by acquiring dark followers! They know the power of the Dark Side; a power that will show me their weakness so I can exploit it. A power that I KNOW is in Korriban, the place where the Sith began. That's why I need to go there."

"You can't keep taking matters into your own hands for that much longer, Jak!" Keira pleaded, "We're all here, and we have friends somewhere else in this Universe that are in just as much danger as we are! Don't you care at all?"

"I do care," Jak mumbled, "That's why we're going to Korriban!"

"NO WE ARE NOT!" Keira screamed as she slammed her fist on the wall, "We are going to Dromund-Kaas, where The Empire has ALL of the dark eco from OUR planet! It is single handedly the most dangerous thing that they could possibly have in their possession! Who knows what they will do with it?"

"You're wrong," Jak reprimanded, "There are far worse things to worry about than them having dark eco. Such as-"

"The Dark Side?" Keira inquired.

Jak whispered, "Yes."

"And you plan to use it-" She clarified, "against them? You're trying to learn everything about them so you can plot out their weakness, and destroy them once and for all with that power?" He nodded in response. She continued, "I can't let you do that. I don't approve of any of this!"

"It sounds crazy, believe me. But it might be our best option." Jak persuaded.

"OUR best option!?" Keira exclaimed. She trembled as her voice started to break, "You're going there for you! Just because you can handle dark eco doesn't mean you can handle the same power that The Sith have!"

"Keira," Jak continued, "The Empire is run BY The Sith! How do you think they built all of this? We're not strong enough with what we have! Not even with the help of the others!"

"What ABOUT the others, Jak!?" Keira retorted, "What about my father, and Sig, and Torn, and everybody else!? You're being inconsiderate for them! What are you gonna do, huh? You're just gonna go over there and search for 'the secrets of The Dark Side,' while they're out and about (In lord knows what system they are on.) as sitting parroducks so that The Empire can capture them with ease?"

"Of course I didn't forget them!" Jak snapped, "That's why I plan on sending them to Dromund-Kaas to destroy the dark eco themselves."

Keira groaned, "Oh good lord! You really don't know how to make a plan do you!"

"I've made more plans by myself than you ever had with others!" Jak yelled back, then toned down, "Yes, this plan is risky, due to The Empire's max security forces, but I know the others well enough. They're sneaky enough to plant military-grade plasmite bombs on all of the dark eco crates they have over there. If they can detonate them to destroy all of that dark eco, which will for sure wipe out any manufacturing and production they have. It probably won't destroy them completely, but if they get out of there alive and meet up with us, that may buy us some time to take down Vader and The Emperor."

Keira thought, then conceded briefly, "That's a good plan. But there's just one problem; They need you! We can't just abandon them like this! This is the most critical juncture of the mission! They have the eco. They have the weapons. They're chasing us. They want us dead! What part don't you get!?"

"Keira, even if we go to Dromund-Kaas with them right now it won't matter!" Jak argued, "They're still too strong thanks to The Dark Side of the Force! That is their most dangerous weapon and is the reason why they are so powerful now! I need to learn that power, so I can figure out what makes them tick, what makes them crack, and what makes them break."

Keira stepped back from her husband and stammered as tears streamed down from her eyes, "I don't believe what I'm hearing. You've lost yourself! You're slowly but surely starting to go down a path that the rest of us can't follow! You're becoming power hungry and obsessed, just like Praxis, Veger, and Errol were! I can't lose my husband that way! I can't lose my best friend that way! I love you, Jak, and I have to protect you from what you can become if you follow your plan, because it's dangerous for you! Whoever gave you this bright idea to go to Korriban and turn to the Dark Side doesn't know who you are! You're a good person! You're a hero of valor, honor, and integrity, who throws himself in front of danger for others! You're not one that's hungry for power! I can't lose you that way, even if it is our only option, I can't lose you that way! I-I-I-" She stammered incoherently even more, struggling to throw more words out. What she said was hurtful to her husband, but instead of feeling offended and lashing out with anger, Jak looked perplexed as to what her behavior was demonstrating.

"Keira?" Jak piped as he noticed that Keira was gasping for breath. "Keira!?" He yelled louder as he saw her rush to the bathroom with her hands plugging her mouth. Once he heard the sound of vomiting, he panicked, "KEIRA!" and rushed to her aid.

Suddenly, everyone clamored into their tiny room once the ship landed near Jabba's palace, and rushed to find Jak wrapping his arms around his wife who was puking in the toilet. While Daxter merely chortled, everyone else expressed a strong sense of concern for the two that started the crusade against the Empire. They heard all the words that transpired, and feared that this episode may tear them apart once and for all.

Jak ordered as he wiped Keira's mouth clean with a wet rag, "Ratchet, grab her feet and help me set her down on the bed." Immediately Ratchet sprung and did exactly hat Jak asked him to do. They counted to three simultaneously and lifted her up to set her down on the bed. Jak grabbed a cool wet rag to put over her forehead to lower her temperature. He commanded once more, "Get me some green eco vials and a ventilator, stat!" Clank and Ahsoka responded by rushing off to get those supplies.

As Keira hyperventilated, Jak whispered in her ear as he was applying the cool rag on her head "It's gonna be okay. We're all gonna be all right. We're gonna get through this. Don't you worry about a thing, All right? You and I are gonna be fine, no matter what happens. I promise." Master Windu looked on, and stroked his chin with a concerned grimace.


	31. Chapter 31: There is Good in Him

Chapter 31: "There is Good in Him"

Amidst the turmoil brewing on Tatooine, little did they know that even more trouble was afoot just outside of Tython. The Precursors heard about the carnage that took place on Eco, and had just learned about the Empire's reign of terror. They relocated their massive Precursor ship towards Tython, the birth of the Jedi, seeking for answers from them. Little did they know at this point, nearly all of the Jedi in The Galaxy were wiped out thanks to The Great Jedi Purge.

The vessel of The Precursors was indeed immense, just about matching the size of a regular Star Destroyer. It was in an odd shape however, as it started from the massive main thrusters on the inferior side of the hip taking up most of the width. It curved into somewhat of a cone-shaped structure as it reached more towards the top. The ship was made up of entirely Precursor metal, which made the ship virtually indestructible.

The ship's cockpit was also the throne room of the Precursors, who were actually three Ottsels manning the artificial controls. To the left was the Ottsel surfer, who had a mullet cut with a goatee, to the right was the Ottsel Dummy, who had a top half of a Precursor Orb shrouding his face, and in the center was the Ottsel Leader, who was chubbier than the other two, but was by far the wisest of them all. The three controlled the ship using artificial commands powered by the magic of eco.

"Uhh, boss?" The Ottsel Surfer piped, "According to our tracking, the last known destination was here, somewhere on this planet! But it must seem like, they made like bananas and split outta there I guess."

"Yes, precisely," The Ottsel Leader concurred, stroking his beard with concern, "And I don't see any Jedi left on this planet either, which is odd! We need to make these alliances soon. The fate of the Universe depends on it! Wherever Jak and the others are, I sure hope they are all right."

"Hey look! We got a visitor!" The Ottsel Dummy yelled and waved as he looked out the window. They saw a small ship flying in from their right side. It was merely a faint, grey speck that was growing closer and closer to them. "Hey stranger! Do you happen to know where we can find any of the Jedi around here?"

The TIE instead opened fire, rocking the ship back and forth. It was a TIE fighter that began to circle around the massive Precursor ship, and it came with no one else following it. This TIE fighter was different than the ones that had appeared before; The wings on this fighter folded inward, making it shorter in height, more aerodynamic, and much faster than the standard Imperial Fighters. The Precursor ship shook violently as the TIE Fighter landed it's blasts, causing the Precursors to panic.

"DUDE!" The Ottsel Surfer shouted, "It's one of those Imperial guys!"

"They found us!" The Ottsel Dummy shrieked, "We're doomed!"

"Not yet…" The Ottsel Leader began to command calmly, "Launch our warriors into space, and stop that fighter!"

Five Precursor Star fighters and five giant Precursor Robots ejected from the ship and chased in hot pursuit of the lone TIE Fighter. They launched everything from heat-seeking yellow eco missiles to red eco bombs, but the fighter amazingly maneuvered through all of them. It flew in a position parallel to two of the giant Precursor Robots, redirecting the missiles to obliterate them. Then, the fighter shot again, knocking one of the wings off one of the Precursor Star fighters, sending it to careen into two others. The fighter opened fire once more at one of the last two robots, knocking off the mosquito-like heads of one of them.

The fighter flew away from the Precursor ship, turned around, and once more charged forward. As the remaining Precursor Star fighters were planning to form a counterattack, the fighter quickly swooped and fired an aerial attack to destroy them. Only the lone Precursor Robot stood guard at the ship, opening its chest up, ready to launch a massive orb of dark eco energy at the fighter. The TIE Fighter bravely blasted at the center of the robot, causing it to careen into the ship.

The Precursors screamed of terror as the ship rocked back and forth. The impact sent an overload of dark eco energy that damaged the entire vessel. The turbine engines exploded into flames, all shield generators went offline, and the bottom part of the ship went up into flames. A once powerful spacecraft was now literally and figuratively powerless, and The Precursors were now sitting helplessly in space.

The TIE Fighter proceeded to dock itself onto the superior end of the ship, parallel to the cockpit/throne room of the Precursors. They could feel that someone was about to emerge from that ship above the ceiling. As they saw a heated circle develop at the climax of the ship's ceiling, they crowded and embraced each other as they trembled and shivered with fear.

Their worst horrors were soon realized when the piece of the ceiling broke off and cascaded down on to the ground. The lower hatch of the TIE Fighter dropped, and descending from it was the Precursor's worst nightmare, Darth Vader. Shrouded by his cape and usual dark attire, He jumped down from his ship, landed on the ground, kneeling, then slowly rose as he stared at the three Ottsels, fuming with his infamous and sinister mechanical breathing. He could sense their fear dwelling within them, and it resonated throughout the hollowed Precursor Ship.

"St-Stay back! Imperial Fiend!" The Ottsel Leader stammered timidly. He continued by declaring, "You have indeed unaware what we are capable of. We are the most powerful beings in the universe!"

"We are?" The Ottsel Dummy yelped.

"Duh." The Ottsel Surfer rolled his eyes

The Ottsel leader finally commanded, "Warriors, attack him!"

Immediately, five, human-sized Precursor Robots with rifles deployed, and cocked their weapons at The Sith Lord. The one they call Vader, however, was not intimidated even in the slightest, as displayed by his stoic stance while he drew his light saber. The warriors opened fire, but Darth Vader spun his blade in every direction to redirect their blasts right back to them. Two of them were knocked down by their own blasts, while a third one charged. Vader stood still and effortlessly decapitated the robot. He then used The Force to lift the last two robots from center and flung them to the side of the ship, crushing them.

The Ottsel Leader finally took it upon himself to dispatch The Sith Lord himself, but to no avail. He fired three shots at The Dark Lord with his eco staff, but Vader used his weapon to deflect the beams back at each of the three Ottsels, saving the Leader for last. They were trapped inside their own red eco bubble shields, and they squirmed helplessly trying to get out.

Darth Vader chuckled and then snidely chastised to the great Precursors, "I find your lack of pride and confidence disturbing, animals."

Moments later, a Star Destroyer boarded the Precursor Ship. It was Errol's, and he was returning from what he believed was a successful mission to Tatooine. He came with Commander Creed, and a small squadron of Storm Troopers formed up behind them as they marched down the main corridor. The doors of the throne room then opened, and the three Ottsel High-Priests gasped in horror once they saw the man that once tried to alter the universe before.

"Errol!" The Ottsel Leader yelled.

"Ah!" Errol sighed in pleasure, "I see that you three rats have finally gotten acquainted with my new master! I'm sure that this will be an 'endearing' first taste of many from The Empire!" Errol chuckled maniacally.

"You show no form of power, fiend!" The Ottsel leader chastised, "You've tried to form your own army. And once it fell, you end up taking the side of yet another one! Nothing but a sign of weakness!"

"And here you are, trapped in a bubble along with your other two dimwits, your warriors destroyed, all under Lord Vader's captivity." Errol replied, "I bring much more to the table than just serving under The Dark Lord of the Sith."

"Like what?" The three Ottsels piped simultaneously.

Instead of answering them directly, he bowed on one knee and declared, "Lord Vader, I have successfully completed your request; I am pleased to report that Jak, Keira, and their companions have officially been dispatched following the onslaught on Tatooine." The Precursors gasped, then bowed their heads in sorrow once they heard this statement, yet he continued, "I have also retrieved ALL of the dark eco stemming from their world, as separate Imperial Cruisers have obtained portions of that whole substance. The substance is currently being transported back to Dromund-Kaas for processing for our project as we speak. I have also made contact with The Dark Makers before the altercation occurred, and they have agreed to form an alliance with us." The Precursors trembled violently as he announced the new pact between The Dark Makers and The Empire. He concluded, "With our combined efforts the remnants of The Old Republic will be vulnerable, and any uprising from the Precursor race or any Jedi Insurgence will swiftly be eradicated to the point of extinction. The Universe will drop to their knees and bow to us now. They will serve us or die, Master."

Errol could sense the fear stemming from The Precursors as he finished his report. Their worry, their sorrow, and their loss of hope for The Galaxy fueled his pleasure. However, he could also sense that something was awry from Lord Vader. He could feel a stoned-countenance of displeasure hiding behind that mask of his. Something was missing, and he couldn't figure it out initially.

"Why didn't you bring them back?" Lord Vader asked his apprentice.

Errol stammered, "I, reported them as dead from the destructions on Mos Esp-"

Suddenly, he was suffocating and levitating off the ground as Vader clenched one fist up in the air. The fist shook violently in anger, as he clearly was not happy with his Apprentice's first solo performance.

"That is for me to decide, and me only!" Vader declared. He then turned his head, and opened his hand, flying Errol towards him. The Dark Lord grabbed his neck, and lifted him high in the air with only one of his prosthetic hands. The Precursors then whimpered in horror at the sight they saw.

"YOU DARE DEFY ME!?" Vader bellowed as his apprentice gasped for air. His face began to turn purple and his eyes were ready to eject from his head. Vader threw him down on the ground violently, as Commander Creed and the Storm Troopers looked on in amazement. Errol struggled to get up as he was coughing to catch his breath, while Vader walked up towards him.

"This was not what I requested from you!" Vader kept barking at Errol, who ended up turning on his back, "You were supposed to bring them to me ALIVE, so that we can properly address the charges they face, and THEN you can execute them! You let your passion get too far involved in this mission!"

"Lord Vader," Errol barked back, "I believe you are trying to ask me to settle this conflict with peace. You said that peace was a lie, there is only passion-"

He was interrupted when Vader drew his light saber, and pointed the tip of his blade right at Errol's cybernetic face. He growled, "I found you mangled, dead, and yet I saw potential in you, so I gave you a THIRD chance in life in what was a very swift process. I can take away that third from you just as quick, maybe even quicker. Is that what you want?" Errol shook his head, but Vader continued to reprimand, "My Master is most displeased with your performance. You failed, miserably. I can sense their presence in The Galaxy now; they are still alive and at large!"

The Precursor's eyes and ears perked up with a brief moment of joy. They learned that there was hope after all.

"That's impossible!" Errol retorted, "We launched every artillery attack we had!"

"Your theatrics not only failed to destroy them," Vader continued to reprimand as he retracted his light saber, "but they also caused a massive waste in munitions that would better be served against larger armies!"

"But we still have the dark eco," Errol panted.

Darth Vader agreed as Errol stood up, "Yes, we still do, and that is our most vital ingredient. You now have a new task; you are to go back to Dromund-Kaas and oversee the processing of the eco on our manufacturing plant. If there is any attempt from Jak and his insurgent friends to taper with this dark eco, or if any other remaining Jedi happen to stumble upon it and try to take it for themselves, you MUST detain them, and bring them to me ON THIS VERY SHIP! If you don't comply, then this alliance we have created will be our undoing. All of it. Do I make myself CLEAR?"

"Yes, My master." Errol bowed his head solemnly and affirmed.

Vader then sternly commanded, "Don't fail me again." Errol turned around and walked away from the throne room. Commander Creed followed, but the Storm Troopers stayed behind, awaiting their Supreme Commander's orders.

"Lord Vader," one of the Troopers began to ask, "What do want us to do with these, fur balls?"

Vader thought, then replied, "Detain them, and throw them into the cargo bay. I will be there later for questioning."

"Very good, My Lord," the trooper replied, and then motioned his squadron towards The Precursors. As they approached them, they used instruments to pop their individual bubbles and handcuff them with devices made up of elastic electro-wire. The troopers shoved the Ottsels down the steps from behind as they were escorting them out.

"Hey, watch it, buddy!" The Ottsel surfer snapped, "Just 'cuz you wear tidey-whities doesn't mean you should be embarrassed by them!"

"Take it easy!" The Ottsel Dummy complained, "I just got my tail waxed, ya know?"

Then, the Ottsel leader pleaded, "You'll pay for this, Imperial Slime! You do not hold all of the power in The Galaxy! The Light will triumph over The Dark Side! You will be defeated!" He kept pleading incoherently to Vader as the throne room door shut behind them.

"We shall see." Darth Vader grumbled.

At last, The Dark Lord of The Sith was alone, inside the command center of the mighty Precursors. An ancient device in space once designed by an ancient and powerful race in the Galaxy he now had control. He turned around, and walked towards the center chair of the Throne where the Ottsel Leader once stood. He walked up, and slowly sat himself down on it, giving him an aura. Then he slowly turned around and stared out the window into deep space. With this power that he had gained over these past few months, he felt that something was missing. He didn't feel complete. And for the first time in a long time, Darth Vader felt sorrow.

"Padme," Anakin began, "Forgive me. Forgive me for all the wrong that I have done to you. I am sorry. I was only doing what I felt like could protect you. I was wrong. You are no longer here with me anymore, physically. But I will always hold memories for you deep in my heart. Everything that I have built up until this point is all for you, my love. Soon, I will overthrow The Emperor, and will have sole possession over The Galaxy, and make things the way we want them to be. You will always be my queen. Have faith, my love. The prophecy has not fulfilled itself yet. But just know that it will all please you in due time. Forgive me, Padme. I love you."


	32. Chapter 32: Korriban

Chapter 32: Korriban

As the crew of The Renegade were loading up all the supplies and cargo they left at Jabba's Palace, Jak sat next to Keira's bedside, tending to her in her time of illness. She wasn't dying by any means, but was warm, sweaty, and somewhat short of breath. She lay in bed with only her head and neck exposed, while her blanket shrouded the rest of her body. A vial full of green eco traveled from a small tube that pierced her most superficial vein in her left arm. Jak was constantly wringing out a cold towel from an iced-water-bucket and pat it softly on her head to help cool her down.

"I know you're scared," Jak began, "because I am to. I don't know what's going to happen or how, but at the end of the day I know we'll all be all right."

"I believe in you." Keira whispered back.

"It's a tough job we're doing, Keira." Jak reminded her, "We're taking on the Empire all by ourselves. None of the surviving Jedi have the courage to stand up to them, if there are any left of course."

"I'm amazed that we all made it this far," Keira continued, "I thought we'd all be dead by now."

"And we won't," Jak declared, "Because we have a foolproof plan; YOUR foolproof plan."

"Really?" Keira piped.

"Yeah," Jak agreed. "I've given it some serious thought, and I think your approach is the safest, and quite possibly the most effective. It's not a decision that I took lightly, but I realized at the end you were right." She smiled at him as he continued, "I would never do anything to tear us apart, and that includes everyone on this ship, as well as our best friends. I've been arrogant, too worried about myself, my condition, but the latest episode made me realize that you are too valuable for me to lose. You've made me realize that there are more important things in the universe. And without you, I don't even know where I'd be. You're my sane side. You're the good in me. And I want to keep it. That's why we are going to Dromund-Kaas, we're gonna meet up with the others. We're gonna find all of the dark eco that they have, destroy it, and wipe out this Empire for good, so that we can go home, and go back to living normal lives, the lives that WE planned for."

"Thank you, Jak." She strained in reply.

"You just rest now," Jak soothed, "Close your eyes, go to sleep, and everything will be all right by the time you wake up." He leaned in for a kiss on her forehead, but Keira strained his hair softly, and looked deeply into his eyes. Jak held her hand as she softly and slowly curved it around his cheek.

She whispered, "No matter what happens, or what you do, I know that it will be for the best for all of us. You're an amazing warrior and a better man; the man that I married. I know you'll do well, I have faith; faith that The Force will guide you towards the right direction. May The Force be with you, Jak. I love you."

As a tear rolled down his face, Jak leaned in, kissed her forehead, and whispered, "I love you too, Keira. May the Force be with you. Don't you worry about anything. Everything will be all right." With that, she turned her head upwards, dropped her hand, and fell fast asleep, softly whistling into a deep, peaceful slumber uninterrupted.

Jak slowly tiptoed out of the room as the door shut behind him. Awaiting him outside was Daxter, Tess, Ahsoka, and Master Windu. They all sternly looked at him, with their arms folded, waiting for an answer, any word from their fearless leader.

"We're not going to Dromund-Kaas," Jak declared.

"Oh jeez…" Daxter groaned.

"We're going to Korriban." Jak commanded.

"Say what!?" Ratchet shouted as he was manning the cockpit with Clank, preparing the ship for takeoff.

"Set your course for Korriban, Ratchet," Jak instructed, "and contact Ashelin, wherever she and the rest of them are. Jak proceeded to walk over towards the cockpit, Daxter hopped on Jak's shoulder pad, looking pensive, while the rest followed.

"Jak?" Tess piped, "You married, Keira. Isn't the whole point of that to be honest with each other, about everything? In sickness and in health?"

"I know this sounds like a cruel thing to do to her, to all of you guys," Jak announced, "but this something I have to do. The Force commands it."

"I don't like this, dude." Ratchet shook his head, "I don't like it at all."

"I don't either," Daxter agreed, "It's never a good thing when my tail wiggles."

"I'm not the biggest fan for this course of action either," Jak turned to face everyone, "but this is the only way. I have no choice."

"There always is a way! Tess stood up to his face while stepping on the control panel, "You always have a choice! You can't just say what you said to your wife about one thing and then do the other, especially if it's not what SHE wants!"

"I lied to her about her plan…" Jak clarified, "but I didn't lie to her about how I feel about her. I've felt that way about here ever since I met her. We all know this. Sometimes you have to lie to protect the ones you love the most. This is one of those times."

"Jak," Clank began to ask, "You're aborting Keira's plan and going with a plan that has more risk and danger. Why do you wish us to trek with you to such a hostile place?"

Jak cleared his throat, and explained to everyone, "Because, that planet, as dangerous at it may be, holds the secrets of The Sith, and their source of power; the power that I need to learn to figure out how to destroy The Empire. Think about it like this: The Empire isn't just manufacturing weapons and war ships and whatever the hell they're trying to create with our dark eco. Think about what Darth Vader is, a Dark Lord of The Sith! Just like the guy that trained before him, and the guy before that, and so on. They possess something intangible, a dark secret hidden within The Force, worse than dark eco. The Force commands me to go there and search for this 'gift' found inside a holocron that belonged to Darth Bane, an ancient Sith Lord. If I learn this power, I can use it against The Empire to exploit their greatest weakness. That's what Keira and I debated over. Keira's plan is a good plan and in the past I probably would've went with it. But this is a totally different situation that we're in, and it calls for a different plan, a plan that The Force calls upon me to execute. If we just go to Dromund-Kaas and destroy everything they have, they still won't be completely destroyed. As long as The Empire possesses the secrets of The Dark Side, they will only get stronger. I know it may sound like I'm only thinking for myself and, I am fully aware that this is a pretty dangerous plan because I have no idea what I'm getting into, because I'm the one that is searching after this dark gift. But trust me guys, I am doing this for the greater good of our universe. I am learning about their past so that I can protect our future here, in the present. All of the answers that we have been asking lie deep into the Valley of The Dark Lords, and can only be found in the abyss of Bane's Tomb. That's where I need to go."

There was a long moment of silence, as everyone processed and pondered Jak's monologue. Their looks were pensive, confused, perplexed, conflicted, worried, and stunned as Jak spoke to them. When they were looking for inspiration from their leader, all they received instead was a command to follow him, and everyone felt uneasy processing his information.

Then, Master Windu stood forward and concurred, "I could not agree with you more, Jak!"

"You've gotta be kiddin' me!" Daxter groaned as he face-palmed.

"At least we agree on something now." Jak told the Master Jedi.

"Hey," Windu continued, "There is value to what you just shared with us. To defeat your enemy, you have to know them, understand them, find out what makes them tick, their source of strength, and use it as a weakness to exploit them. However, I will say that this is a bold approach for a Jedi. What you are walking into, is the origins of the entire Sith Race, where the darkest of secrets lie. Many Jedi have tried to learn this kind of secret that you are searching for, but to no avail. They either joined hands with the Dark Side, or perished in the most painful way anyone could possibly imagine. Only one Jedi travelled to Korriban, searched what you sought for, and came back the same as he left. That was Master Yoda, a Jedi Grand-Master wise beyond his years. You on the other hand, are young, brash, and have a conflict within you, between the dark and the light. So your chances of succeeding are slim to none."

"Right," Daxter argued, "and that's exactly why that we are NOT going to send our homeboy over to Korriban! It's too risky! You didn't get those secrets then, and you ain't getting them now! And there is NO WAY that my best friend is gonna turn all dark and twisty (as if he wasn't already) in an attempt to 'save The Galaxy' only to make it worse than it already is now!"

"However," Master Windu barked at the Ottsel, then turned to everyone to conclude his opinion, "I also do believe that this plan it's our only chance of succeeding, as outrageous as it may sound on the surface The Secrets of the Sith, secrets that we as Jedi have been searching for centuries, may be the key ingredient in bringing balance back to The Force."

"Dax," Jak chided, "you were there when you saw Damas and Master Qui-Gon speak to us. You knew from them that it's what they told us to do!"

"True," Daxter replied, "but that doesn't mean I have to agree with them."

"Oh, how I wish Master Yoda shared his experiences with us when The Jedi Order was still intact," Master Windu reflected, "His input could've changed the landscape of The Clone Wars, and could've prevented what has already happened."

"Maybe Yoda's input wasn't meant to be shared," Ratchet added on, "He probably thought that information was so crucial it was too dangerous to spread! Look, Jak, all I'm saying is that there are things that should be left unsaid and unknown. Maybe THAT's better for the greater good, don't you think? Besides, we can't just _let_ The Empire still build whatever they're building with the dark eco. How are we going to destroy it at Dromund-Kaas if we're all the way out in Korriban?"

"That is where Ashelin and the others come in…" Jak schemed.

Meanwhile, on Dagobah, Yoda was instructing Ashelin, Torn, Sig, and Jinx the ways of The Force, with Samos meditating right behind them. It has been a struggle for these for warmongers, as they train to use their brains to barely levitate small rocks off the ground while standing on their hands.

"Excellent," Yoda instructed, "Clear your minds, no need to worry about problems you cannot control. Absorb The Force around you, you must. Good. Good…"

They have made considerable progress, but nowhere near the level of Jak and Keira. They have just begun to learn how to connect with the environment that surrounds them, and they collectively have never felt that task before. Despite the murky conditions of the planet, there was peace, serenity, and a lack of distractions from The Empire they encountered on Tython.

Speaking of which, Samos had a vision while he was meditating, a very grave and urgent one: He saw the ship of The Precursors, suddenly attacked by a solo TIE Fighter, then a dark figure wielding a red blade breaking in to the throne room of the ship, torturing The Precursors. An apprentice then showed up, tortured by the figure, and the Three Ottsels that orchestrated the exile of The Darkmakers from Eco, were now caged like wild animals as the dark one sat on the throne of The Precursors.

What Samos saw next was even more horrifying: He saw the others, including Jak and Keira, surviving an explosion, only to be ambushed by an Imperial Armada, led by the apprentice that was tortured by the dark figure in the previous vision. He learned that the apprentice was Errol, which meant he presumed the dark figure to be Darth Vader. He saw Jak and Keira face Errol, barely escape his clutches alive, and then he saw his own daughter faint of what appeared to be an illness. Jak carried her onto a ship that flew away from the ambushed planet into a planet that he sensed was full of darkness, and could feel the fear that his daughter expressed to her husband.

He then opened his eyes, listening to Jak's voice calling out to Ashelin via her communicator, _"Ashelin! Ashelin! Come in! It's urgent!"_

That interrupted everyone, including Master Yoda, who groaned in agitation. As everybody opened their eyes and stood themselves back upright, Ashelin, slightly panicked, grabbed the communicator, and pulled up Jak's hologram from The Renegade.

"Jak!" Ashelin shouted, "Thank goodness you're still alive. How's everyone else?"

"Bruised, but not beaten." Jak replied.

"Jak!" Samos barged in, "Where's Keira!? What happened to her!?"

"She's feeling very ill," Jak reported, "Possibly still in shock from that skirmish that we had on Tatooine. But her vitals are stable and beyond normal. She's just resting."

"There are far more grave matters that we have to discuss," Samos began, "The Precursors! They've been captured by The Empire!"

"WHAT!?" Everyone on both sides screamed in shocked when they heard the news. All except for Master Yoda, who only sighed grimly.

"Vader was behind it," Samos explained, "I had a vision. I saw it all! He came by himself, in his own star ship, damaged The Precursor Vessel so badly; he broke in and captured them! Now he's sitting on THEIR throne! This has gone completely out of control! You have to locate The Precursors and stop Vader once and for all!"

Jak bit his quivering lip, and broke, "I can't do that."

"What did you just say!?" Samos retorted.

"I'm sorry," Jak lamented, "but The Force commands me to go to Korriban to discover the secrets of The Sith."

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?" Samos yelled at him, "Like you don't have enough darkness boiling within you already!"

"I don't want to do this either," Jak pleaded, "but I don't have much of a choice. This is our best option."

"See," Samos fumed, "You NEVER listen to what I have to say! EVER! Every time you disobey me, you get yourself into a huge mess!"

"I only disobeyed you once, Samos," Jak replied, "and it ended up being the best mistake Daxter and I made."

Samos scoffed and walked away. Master Yoda was about to interject until he heard the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn speak, _"Do not interfere. As outrageous as this sounds, this is the best path for him and the others. You have to trust him, just like you have trusted me and Obi-Wan before."_

"Jak!" Ashelin came back in, "Don't do this. You have no idea what kind of dark magic you're dealing with here. You can't just leave us high and dry while you go ahead and turn to the dark side!"

"One," Jak listed, "I am aware of the risks of this mission, and while I don't plan on turning to the dark side (as I try my best not to), I have to acknowledge that possibility. Two, and most importantly, I didn't say I was going to leave you high and dry on…wherever you guys are. That's why I'm giving you guys a mission just like the ones we did back home."

"Say what!?" Torn shouted.

"While I'm down there on Korriban, I need you guys to go to Dromund-Kaas. That's were all of our dark eco is located after they took it from us on Tatooine, and that's also the place where The Empire builds most of their weapons and ships. They're doing something with all of that dark eco that they have, and I need all of you guys to go there, break into their manufacturing plant, find the plans for the dark eco that they're using, and destroy all of the eco and everything they have. That part, you can do however you like."

"BOOM BABY!" Jinx yelled with excitement, "Now this adventure got a whole lot more interestin! Blowin' The Empire right outta the sky!"

"Now that's a task I'm down to take!" Sig shouted, and then regressed, "but we have Jedi training here to do. We can't leave now!"

"I'm afraid you guys don't have a choice," Jak instructed, "Time is of the essence. If we plan on shutting down The Empire, we need to shut them down now, and we're gonna do it big!"

"I'm not sure if it's such a good idea for us four to do that." Ashelin pensively expressed.

"I wouldn't give you guys this mission if I didn't believe that you could do it," Jak boosted them up with confidence, "I just need you guys to believe in me too. We've been through this before. We'll be all right."

Ashelin sighed, and then reluctantly accepted, "All right, we'll go there as soon as we can."

"Great!" Jak exclaimed, "We're in hyperspace right now en route to Korriban. Once we pull out, I'm shutting off all connections. You CANNOT contact us while we're down there. I don't want The Empire to tap into this and know what we're planning."

"Then how will you know if we succeeded or failed?" Ashelin asked.

"I'll know." Jak replied, "Through The Force, I'll know."

"Are you sure about this?" Ashelin asked again.

"Yes." Jak firmly stated, "I'm positive. It's safer for all of us this way."

"If you insist," Torn came in, "Don't let the weasel scare himself out of his fur while you're down there."

"I'll do my best." Jak replied.

"All right," Ashelin solemnly spoke, "I guess this is goodbye for now."

"But not forever." Jak optimistically corrected as Ashelin chuckled.

"May The Force be with you guys." Sig bid farewell as Ashelin signed off.

"Yeah," Jak said as the line disconnected when he slumped down onto his chair and rubbed his forehead, "May The Force be with all of you too."

After Jak exhaled with grief, Tess was the first to speak behind them, "You can't make our friends do this! It's suicide!"

"They want me more than they want them." Jak fired back.

"They want all of us!" Ratchet agreed with The Ottsel that spoke.

Jak disagreed once more, "They want me dead first before they want the rest of us dead, and they'll use the others to get to me if they get captured." Then he stood up, and faced the others standing behind him, "So no, it's not a suicide mission for them. In fact, it's just like the old days. It's just like how we were when we were all in The Underground, remember?" Then Jak stormed through them, and marched into Master Windu's room to be alone.

Ratchet sighed, and then turned to Master Windu, "Do you seriously think he's doing the right thing?"

Master Windu replied, "Of course! There's always a bit of truth in legends. That includes the dark kinds. Right, Ahsoka?"

Ahsoka then stammered hesitantly, "Oj. Y-Yeah…" and she bit her quivering lip, hiding her timid emotions underneath.

"Don't be worried, little Ahoska," Master Windu consoled, "Someday in your journey through life, you may have to take a journey similar to that of Master Yoda's, and that of the one that Jak is embarking now."

"I sure hope that Keira doesn't find out when she wakes up…" Tess concluded.

Sig, Torn, Ashelin, and Jinx were gearing up their supplies to depart from Dagobah. Samos and Master Yoda, dissapointedly folded their arms and shook their heads as they watched what was being displayed. Not only because of the fact that they were leaving, but also mainly because of the fact that they have yet to move their ship out of the boggy swamp.

"Leave now, you cannot." Yoda said to them.

"I agree with Master Yoda." Samos followed.

"Look guys," Torn began, "We really hate it if we left during in the middle of training, but our mission is at a critical juncture. We have no choice but to go."

"Or stay," Sig added on, "Our ship is still stuck in the swamp!"

Then, Master Yoda closed his eyes, lifted up his right hand, and concentrated on The Mock Renegade. He called upon The Force to slowly levitate the ship out from the marsh. The swamp bubbled vigorously at first, catching everyone by surprise. Then even more amazement happened when the shadow of the ship suddenly shrouded over them, and they all looked up to see that the ship was in the air. Once Master Yoda levitated the ship over the others, he opened the hatch from underneath, and set it down softly, all done without even laying a fingernail on the ship.

"Wow." Torn spoke as his jaw dropped.

"Now," Master Yoda began to bid farewell, "Take off, you can." The gang then proceeded to load their supplies onto the ship.

"This is outrageous!" Samos shouted, "This whole 'plan' of ours has completely fallen flat into the mud! I'm staying right here until it's safe to come out! At least I'll have peace."

"That's your choice, Samos." Sig shrugged.

"His choice," Master Yoda deferred, "it is not. Go with them, you must."

"But…" Samos looked at him with wide eyes.

"But nothing." Master Yoda interrupted, "Need their master, they do. Gave them a start I did. Complete their training, you must."

Samos nodded, and firmly accepted. "Thank you, Master."

"No, my old friend," Yoda offered gratitude in return, "Thank you, and May The Force be with you all."

Samos departed into the ship with the others, as he was the last one to hop on board. As the hatch was closing and the ship turned to the sky, the apparition of Qui Gon Jinn appeared right behind Yoda, and the former Jedi Grand Master felt his presence.

"We were wrong about The Chosen One." Qui Gon declared.

"Yes," Yoda concurred, "Misunderstood the prophecy of The Force, we did."

"We had no idea this new hope would come around." Qui Gon continued, "He represents both the dark and the light, outwardly and inwardly, and is learning to control it more and more each day."

"Concerns me this does," Master Yoda shared, "of his journey to the planet of darkness. Been to Korriban, I have. Much danger there is for him to be there."

"He will find comfort and serenity with the same gift that you found there," Qui Gon told him, "and this time, he will share it with the ones closest to him."

"Hmmm…." Master Yoda bowed, "Make the right decisions he must."

"I trust that he will," Qui Gon said, "My main concern is with his love."

"Yes," Master Yoda agreed once more, "Too young and innocent to learn the truth of her origins. Spike the anger and hatred, it will, much worse than the boy, despite not being infected by the darkness directly."

"They will now learn the full power of The Force." Qui Gon finished as The Mock Renegade took off away from Dagobah's atmosphere deep into hyperspace.

While Samos' crew jumped into light-speed en route to Dromund-Kaas, the crew of The Renegade jumped out of light-speed once the ship reached Korriban's orbit. Jak walked up to the cockpit in his normal attire, while everyone else was seated. On the outside, it looked very similar to Tatooine. The planet carried its same shade of light brown, making it appear to have the same arid desert climate that they were just on.

"That's it?" Jak asked.

"Yup." Ratchet replied.

"Are you sure?" he asked again, "Because I'm beginning to think that we went around in circles."

"Scanning now," Clank declared as his antenna scanned the planet. Details of the system appeared on the surface pad of the cockpit. Clank confirmed, "Sir, it looks like this is it. We are at the right place."

"Korriban," Ahsoka began, "ancient birthplace of The Sith. This is where the conflict started thousands of years ago. While we strive for peace, they hunger for power. This is the place where you will see why they are who they are.

"It seems like there are no life forms on this planet either!" Clank added on while reading the data from the pad on the dashboard.

"That can't be good…" Daxter gulped.

"It's all right," Master Windu declared, "I'm sure it is plenty habitable enough for us to walk on at least. The Force wouldn't tell us to come here if it was impossible to breathe.

"The Force didn't tell us to come here," Daxter snapped, "Ol' Darkboy did."

Jak growled at Daxter and then turned his head towards the front windshield of the ship, which was all dust and dirt. Then as the ship descended further into the atmosphere, mountains and desert appeared. The landscape was very similar to Tatooine, only this time there was more rugged terrain, bluffs, and cliffs present. Ratchet found a soft spot to land the ship on, and it was right in front of a dark valley.

The latch for the ship opened once it landed, and Jak was the first to step out into the deep dusk of the planet. He could feel the darkness surrounding him as he stared deep down into that dark valley. He knew that what he was looking at was The Valley of The Dark Lords, which was made up of statues of ancient Sith Lords such as Andeddu, Nihilus, Naga Sadow, Revan, as well as many others throughout history. Riddling the ground beneath the statues were petrified corpses, skeletons, and old weapons. At the end of the long, wide, valley, he saw a dark pyramid towering above the black clouds, tingling his dark eco in his bloodstream.

"There it is." Jak declared to himself.

"There is what?" Master Windu asked as he suddenly approached him from behind.

"The Tomb of Bane," He answered as he pointed at the Pyramid.

"You mean, we have to go to THAT place!?" Daxter shrieked.

"What else did you expect?" Master Windu chortled to the Ottsel.

"Well," Daxter began his reply, "The Force did also say that no one can interfere Jak while he's down there so…maybe I should just stay here and protect you!"

Master Windu laughed for a few moments, and then replied, "A good idea indeed! Because I'm gonna be coming with you two over there!"

"WHAT!?" Daxter shrieked even louded.

"Master, seriously," Jak began to reject, "You don't have to-"

"I'm afraid it's not open for discussion," Master Windu refused to listen, "You are indeed unaware the powers of the dark magic that lies within that tomb. You are ill-prepared, and that is why I will serve as your guide every step of the way." He walked past Jak and led the way deep into the valley, while Daxter groaned with fear as he hopped back on Jak's shoulder pad. Jak followed the Master Jedi and embarked on his journey of darkness.


	33. Chapter 33: Jak's Trials of Conflict

Chapter 33: Jak's Trials of Conflict

The trio trekked deep into the Valley of The Dark Lords. Every step they took pitched the sky from a dull orange to a deeper black, illuminating the pyramid ahead of them into a brighter hue of red as they drew nearer to it. As they inched closer, Jak could feel the cold, dark energy swelling around him. The vibes from this desolate planet marred by carcasses of fallen warriors tingled the dark eco in his blood stream more intensely, little by little, causing him brief moments of sharp, aggravated pain, stemming from the fear of loss, the anger of failure, and the hatred for his enemies.

Suddenly, a black apparition swooped in from behind him, catching Jak by surprise as it wooshed around him, forming a human-like figure shrouded by a hooded cloak. A red blade was drawn, causing Jak to draw his light saber out of instinct. He swung at the dark ghost's blade three times before giving it a mid-sagittal, strike from the head to the abdomen, and then it vanished.

Jak panted, "What…the hell…was that!?"

"Those were ghosts of the ancient Sith Lords and Dark Jedi that lived in this Galaxy long before our time," Master Windu replied, "Their bodies may be long disintegrated, but the Dark Side of The Force kept their souls intact, and will remain to roam on this planet for as long as time keeps turning. Since they are ghosts…" Master Windu swiftly turned around, drew his light saber, and sliced yet another ghost that appeared behind him before it could even stand on its own two feet. Jak and Daxter watched with their jaws dropped as it happened. Master Windu finished, "…they keep coming back. So I suggest you keep your saber drawn." They marched forward with their light sabers activated.

"Uhm…" Daxter began to shiver as he crawled back up on Jak's shoulder pad, "Are those the same dead guys that are laying around in the dirt?"

"Maybe," Master Windu answered coldly, "Maybe not. These are warriors comprised of Jedi and Sith that have fought long ago during the ancient times. The darkest, bloodiest, and most destructive battles were waged on this very planet, yet another reason why The Sith call Korriban 'home.' They crave on their lust for power, stemmed by fear, anger, and hatred."

Three more ghosts materialized in front of them and drew to attack. Swiftly by instinct, Jak vigorously swung his saber at the ghosts as they tried to attack him, and they vanished once his blade made contact with them. More dark eco pulsed through his veins.

"They are apparitions of darkness, Jak," Master Windu advised, "They will try and tempt you to release your anger. That's why they are here. Don't give in to it now, because there will be plenty more later."

"Good to know." Jak scoffed as they marched forward through the valley. As they inched closer to the tomb, they pyramid temple began to tower over them, growing taller and taller, its tip beaming towards the heavens of hell above. More ghosts attacked and vanished, more dark eco pulsed and went away, more anger dwelled within the Jedi in training.

It became apparent that the entrance at the base of the Sith Pyramid Temple led to the tomb of Darth Bane, hidden beneath the underground catacombs of the temple itself. The entrance of the tomb was shrouded underneath a long bridge that led to the temple's entrance. The pillars that held the bridge up resembled ancient Sith Lords. The tomb's entrance was marked with ancient hieroglyphics in a circular pattern that surround a pyramid with an eye in the center.

"Well," Daxter observed, "like that isn't creepy enough! I think you found your secret, Jak. Now's a good time to head on back don't you think?"

"No," Master Windu reprimanded, "The markings on this door can only tell us so much, we have to learn what's inside."

"I'm with you there," Jak concurred.

"Jaaaaaaaaakkk!" Daxter screamed, "You're really going to buy into this dark voodoo crap!?"

"We don't have any other choice," Jak replied, "Besides, whenever we get into scary places with scary situations, you always try to chicken out!"

"Not all the time!" Daxter argued, then Jak gave him a look, "Okay, maybe some of the time…" Jak gave him another look, then The Ottsel confessed, "OKAY Fine! Maybe all except for one or two times I tried to chicken out. That doesn't mean I actually DO chicken out!"

"You're trying to right now," Master Windu chimed in.

"Look guys," Daxter pleaded, "I got a bad feeling about this place. Not only does it give me the creeps, but I feel like we're wasting our time here when we really should be helping the others. Maybe Keira's right. Maybe what we're dealing with here is bigger than our selves. Maybe we should rescue the others, get the hell home, form an army, and then try again!"

"Not a chance," Jak rejected, "The time to stop this Empire is now."

"And now is the time for affirmative action." Master Windu concurred as both he and Jak closed their eyes to channel The Force from within. They stood stoic and parallel to the door in front of them, and they lifted their arms up high as they extended them outward, using The Force to lift the door open. Daxter stood behind them and slowly walked back as the door slowly rumbled and opened upward, revealing only a dark abyss.

"Who comes forth?" A dark voice bellowed from the inside of the tomb.

"Greetings," Master Windu began, "We are simply two Jedi inquiring of knowledge of darkness, as well as the secret for the afterlife."

"I sense only one of you that comes to my tomb with the thirst for knowledge," the voice of Darth Bane continued, "and he's the one they claim to be the new chosen one; the one that they call, 'Jak Mikwa,' or…shall I go by your real name… 'Mar?'

"H-how do you know who I am?" Jak stammered.

"The Force is strong with you." Darth Bane boasted, "I can sense things beyond my natural borders, and I sense a conflict in you that brings you here; a conflict between the dark and the light. You possess both powers, but want to learn the ultimate power only attained by the immortals, and use it to destroy your arch enemy, a fellow Sith following my order?"

"Yes," Jak firmly stated.

"I have that gift," Bane whispered softly, "I have the power that you so crave and desire. Only one mortal was successful enough to pass my tests and obtain this gift, and you come before me today already more powerful that he ever was. I have the secret that can save your friends and the one you love the most. It's all here for you, Mar. All the answers that you seek will be revealed if you and you alone walk into my tomb and pass the tests that I will give to you."

"He's not that strong," Master Windu interrupted, "Let me guide him through here. He doesn't know-"

"ONLY ONE!" The Voice shouted as a ray of pulsing electricity struck Master Windu in the chest, sending him backward a few feet.

"MASTER!" Jak and Daxter shouted as they rushed to Windu's aid, who was lying unconscious in the sand. Jak checked for a pulse, and thankfully he still had one. But then he also noticed that the door was slowly closing behind him.

Jak stood back up and turned around when the voice persuaded to him, "Mar, your window of opportunity is closing. It's now or never…"

"Don't do it Jak!" Daxter pleaded, "It's not worth it!"

"These secrets that lie in my tomb are what many Jedi have died for." Bane declared.

"Yeah, because you killed them all!" Daxter retorted.

"Mar," The Spirit continued to coerce him as the door drew halfway down, "This is your one and only chance. I have the power to defeat your darkest demons and to save the ones you love most. Come to me, face my tests, gain the knowledge you desire!"

"Don't listen to him, Jak!" Daxter begged, "This guy's lying. Windu needs our help! Let's turn back now and get out of here!"

Jak looked at the door, then looked at Daxter and Windu. He looked forward, and then looked back. Looked forward, looked back. Then he remembered the exact instructions that Qui-Gon Jin told him on Tatooine. In that moment, he made his decision.

Without hesitation, Jak ran back, grabbed Daxter, carried him in his arms as The Ottsel was yelling his name the whole time he ran back towards the closing door, and rolled underneath the crevasse that remained underneath it just before the door shut them inside the dark tomb.

Jak stood up, looked around, and shouted "DAX! DAXTER! Where are you buddy!?"

"You need not of him now," Bane's voice grumbled.

Jak drew his light saber and growled, "What have you done to him!?"

"You need not worry of your companion's wellbeing," The Demon advised, "If you wish to see him again, you must proceed." Jak inhaled, and walked forward with his weapon still activated, ready to face the first test. He used his weapon as a light in the dark pathway, so he could see where he was going.

He followed down a small, narrow corridor that was used as catacombs for fallen Dark Jedi. Their spirits would often appear just like they did on the surface, and Jak had to strike them in anger to exterminate them. He knew that they were there to tempt him into the darkness, but still could not resist using so much vigor to rid of them; no matter how hard he tried.

A door opened, and the first challenge awaited him. Jak walked through the door and stood on a platform, and saw only pillars, descending floating platforms, all hovering over a dark, bottomless chasm. He stepped forward, looked around, and looked down timidly, unsure of what the first challenge would be.

Bane grumbled, "The first challenge will test you on your strength of The Force…" and that was the only clue that he gave.

Jak shouted, dumbfounded, "And? What else!?" He then looked around, and finally figured it out; He closed his eyes, reached out his hand towards the nearest pillar, and broke it off from the hollowed walls of the tomb. Using maximal cerebral strength and effort, Jak was able to break the large pillar off the wall, levitate it, and rotate it so that its ends rested from his platform to the floating platform closest to him, forming a bridge that he could walk on. He would repeat this action five more times, and each time the task became more challenging. He was forced to navigate with heavier pillars, and sometimes he used The Force to inhibit any moving platforms he needed to walk on at the right time, so that the pillars would fall correctly in the downward slope that he needed to place them to. Not to mention, as he performed these actions, more ghosts of Sith's past tried to attack him, to throw him off.

Eventually, he reached the next door, and it open using only The Force. While running down this corridor, there were no ghosts to challenge him, surprisingly. Despite the sense of calm as he rushed through the hallway, he felt a sense of uneasiness. He prepared himself to face more demons when he walked through the hallway, but instead encountered none. Instead, he saw an orb of red light at the end of the tunnel drawing nearer as he ran. Once he ran through the doorway, the red beam vanished, and the next challenge presented itself:

"The second challenge will test your wits with The Force…" Bane bellowed once more. Jak slowly tiptoed down a staircase where the red light floated down toward a puzzle. It was a type of puzzle marked with locks, hieroglyphics, slots, and that familiar eye cased inside that pyramid shape that was similar to that of the door that resembled the gate of the tomb.

Some of the pieces of the puzzle were put together, while others were not. It was up to Jak to use The Force to find the missing pieces scattered all over the walls, and to place the right locks inside the right slots that were hanging on the ceiling. The object was to make the glowing read orb shining bright in front of him drop to the center of the eye, activating the next door that was standing in front of him. Of course, the pieces that were put in the proper places beforehand were floating above a bottomless chasm. Nevertheless, Jak sat down, closed his eyes, and went to work.

Meanwhile, Daxter stood himself up after being briefly knocked unconscious, and slowly paced around a dark, desolate, gloomy, and grim corridor, with pillars towering over him that were over one-hundred times his size. All the little Ottsel saw was nothing but complete darkness. He shivered, quivered, and quaked in fear, as he was alone, helpless, defenseless, and hopeless.

"JAK!" Daxter cried out, "Where are you, buddy!?" Then, he stammered, "Don't worry, Jak! I'll find you, and we'll get out of here together!"

"_I can take you to him,"_ A voice of a female spirit whispered, which startled The Ottsel. Daxter panicked, looked around, hyperventilated which increased his heart rate, and then suddenly was hypnotized by a bright purple orb that glowed in front of his eyes. The voiced instructed, _"Follow me…" _ as the orb floated away from him.

"Uhhh….okay?" Daxter accepted as he followed the orb into the abyss of the tomb.

Meanwhile, Jak struggled to fit the last few pieces of the puzzle together. Every piece got heavier, changed shape, or broke into smaller pieces, making it harder for him to use The Force to put it all together. However, he was able to adapt to these sudden changes, and anticipated them sooner, so that he could fit every last piece, slot, lock, and key correctly.

When he was finished, the mosaic on the floor turned into a bright gold, resembling that same mosaic encrypted on the tomb's front door. The red orb slowly floated down onto the center of the mosaic, where the eye was printed, and disappeared right into its pupil. Moments later, a pedestal from that eye rose, and on top of it was a small, pyramid-shaped structure, made of red-stained glass with gold borders, glowing with crimson light.

Jak stared at it and knew immediately what it was. "The Holocron," he whispered, as he approached it slowly. He grabbed it, caressed it in his hands, and tucked it away in his holster. Suddenly, the bright lights of gold turned into a deeper, more intense sanguine hue, and the platform swiftly fell down the large shaft, or at least, that what it appeared to be for Jak. He was then surrounded by the spirits of The Sith, armed, fueled by anger and rage, circling around the area of the mosaic, and Jak stood in the center of the circle.

"The final challenge will test your power with The Force…" Bane announced, then finished, "Kill them all, or perish here, under the wrath of darkness." With that, the demons of the Sith charged at him. Jak drew his weapon, and began to fend them off.

He spun, struck, stabbed, slashed, slid, shifted, glided, leapt, twisted, turned, charged, and killed as many opponents as he could around the area with aid from The Force and the light saber he wielded. With each time he struck down a ghost, a sharp pulse of dark eco boiled in his bloodstream, further fueling his rage. The more he slaughtered, the darker, more powerful he became. He slowly but surely materialized into his dark form, until he fully transformed into the beast that constantly has tried to consume him. Once he transformed, the killing rate expedited, despite the fact that more ghosts infinitely spawned.

However, the faster that Jak subdued the monsters, the more they multiplied, and as he was trying to strike them down with every move that he had, they drew him closer and closer to the center of the painted floor. He was surrounded by thousands of Sith apparitions that were trying to dispatch him. Once they drew in close enough, Jak's deepest and darkest rage boiled so hot, he drew his arms toward his chest, crouched, then finally jumped high enough and expanded his arms, unleashing an exploding supernova of dark eco energy, unleashing the most destructive, darkest, and most devastating dark power in galactic history, wiping out any remaining Sith ghosts around him.

Jak fell to the ground as the lights dimmed to black, falling on his hands and knees, breathing heavily, unable to speak. His limbs felt weak temporarily, and he felt light-headed. Once he regained full vision and strength, he saw a dim light shine just above him. He looked up, and saw a golden sarcophagus,; The very sarcophagus in which the body of Darth Bane lied, and where his soul was hidden in deep slumber, eager for it to be reawakened by the hero that hailed from Eco.


	34. Chapter 34: Bane's Test

Chapter 34: Bane's Test

Jak stood up, took the holocron out, and walked slowly up to the sarcophagus. There was a slot that fit the holocron's shape right at the center of its case. Jak slowly placed it down, and immediately felt the artifact suck dark eco energy away from him. The sanguine hue of the holocron's casing changed into an electric violet, and dark eco energy spread throughout the sarcophagus, charging the soul of the ancient Sith Lord. Once enough dark eco energy filled the holocoron, a seismic explosion knocked Jak backwards onto the ground, and the violent waves of violet surrounding the coffin changed to a bright red. The wind howled and the fire crackled and clashed. From the holocron materialized a humanoid spirit composed of fire and lava, with armor made of ash and rubble. His head was shaped like that of a Samurai's mask. He floated and towered over Jak and stared down at him as he stood himself up.

"At last," Bane howled, "The Chosen One has come before me!"

"Chosen One?" Jak replied,

"Yes, Mar," Bane continued, "The prophecy of the one that will bring balance to The Force was heavily flawed. Those Jedi fools believed that Anakin Skywalker was deemed to be the one to bring balance to The Force, since The Sith have slain him. The Prophets and Oracles mistakenly omitted another candidate for the Chosen One; A man who not only is destined to bring balance to The Force, but one that actually REPRESENTS balance of The Force. You."

"Me?" Jak asked.

"Yes," Bane affirmed, "I know all about you, Mar. Despite you never leaving your home until now, I know all about your adventures, your powers, your capabilities, and even the ones you care about most. You've made your mark on Eco, as your people looked to you with admiration, and you look to make an even bigger impact on the entire Galaxy as a whole. I admire that ambition in a Jedi. It shows because of the effort that you put in to get here. You traveled all over this Galaxy on an eventful journey, and passed all of my tests, for you to come before me. You, an aspiring Jedi, yearning for the secrets of the afterlife stemmed by the powers of the Dark Side, a power that I possess." He chuckled, and simply asked, "Why?"

"I was the ruler of Haven City," Jak began, "The ruler of my world, my home. I let everyone live in peace and harmony under my protection. Everything was happy and normal on Eco. Then, he came."

"He who?" Bane asked.

Jak looked up at him and growled, "Darth Vader."

"Ah yes," Darth Bane sighed in displeasure, "The pretender." Those words perked Jak's ears up, and it interested him to listen to the ancient Sith Lord continue, "The man-made machine that said my rule was overrated, weak, corrupted, and plans to take over The Galaxy under a form of bureaucracy that has failed time and time again. As for you, you seek to avenge your people, people who loved you, admired you, glorified you, and worshiped you, after you reluctantly turned your back on them when you needed them most. The Pretender's destruction on your world has left you angered, fueling more hatred for him."

"How do you know all of this about him?" Jak inquired, "How do you know everything about me?

The ghost of the ancient Sith Lord replied, "At the time of my death on Ambria, I had already became so powerful, I transcended with The Force as a living entity away from a physical form. My legacy with The Force helped me discover a way to blend in with the afterlife, so I can oversee everything that happens in the galaxy. Every System, every war, every treaty, and every hero and villain that has come to live and die, including you, and The Pretender, as you are destined to face each other again."

"I was told that you hold the power to immortality," Jak told him, "and that it's a type of power that can overthrow this Empire that Vader helped create. Unfortunately, it's also a kind of power that can destroy the Sith that helped build it as well."

Darth Bane chuckled and continued, "We have a common interest. Only one living Jedi today was strong enough to pass my tests, yet I was not willing to share it with him. This time, the circumstances are different. The Pretender that dared to smite me as well as my order must be destroyed, as there is still a little bit of Jedi left in him. For that, I can give you that key ingredient for a power that no living mortal can achieve, a kind of power I normally wouldn't give to any Jedi, except for you because of your power. I will share the secret of immortality with you, if you only take my hand, and face my final challenge." The eerie apparition held out his hand, and Jak reluctantly, but slowly touched it. Next thing he knew he was screaming as he was sucked into the vortex of the holocron, changing the scenery around him.

Through the vortex he landed on a hard surface surrounded by a deep purple sky. He was standing on top of a tower made up of Precursor metal with a rift gate behind him. He was standing on what appeared to be Gol and Maia's Citadel.

What also appeared were dead corpses scattered all over the floor. Not just regular dead bodies, but perished people that he knew, loved, and hated, people such as Sig, Torn, Ashelin, Baron Praxis, Kliever, Count Veger, as well as many others. There were three people lying dead around the center of the circular floor, just barely touching his heels. Three people he cared about the most; Samos the Sage, his father Damas, and the love of his life, Keira. Of the three dead bodies that lay in the center of the circular floor, Keira's was the one that caught most of his attention.

"Keira, no!" Jak cried as he kneeled down and picked he up, caressing her as he breathed heavily. Suddenly, all of the bodies started to vanish into smithereens, including the one he held so dearly close to him, causing him to look around, confused, stunned, and terrified.

"He is a pretender," Bane bellowed, "but there is no denying his power. This is what he can do to the people that you love the most, especially your wife. You must stop him before this travesty can occur!"

The rift gate opened behind him, and there was nothing but a beam of light shining through it. Through that light, Jak heard the mechanical breathing once more, saw a dark figure materialize, and heard a light saber drawn, and then he turned around. It appeared that Darth Vader was ready to face him once again.

At this point, Jak could no longer help himself. His anger boiled the dark eco in his bloodstream, changing him into his dark form once again. He drew his light saber and held it at a reverse grip as he growled at the cyborg drawing nearer to him.

"Good," Bane bellowed as he was eavesdropping on the encounter, "Your anger gives you strength! It is the key to your power! Use your hatred to destroy The Pretender! Only then you will gain the power that you desire!"

With that, the duel ensued. From the get go, Vader appeared to have no answers for Jak's quick reflexes. He swung and spun his saber at the cyborg faster than he ever did the first time they faced. Although Vader was able to block his strikes, he had a hard time countering Jak's quickness and unpredictability. Darth Bane, despite the fact that he was not present during this confrontation, marveled at the anger and hatred that he dominated over whom he called, 'The Pretender.'

Jak in his dark form would unleash a flash of dark eco force lightning from his fingertips, as Vader would absorb it with his saber. Then, Jak charged forward and swung at his opponent's saber three times, landing a strike on the Sith Lord's helmet so violently, it caused him to slide back towards the rift gate.

Jak slowly approached him, still in his dark form, his saber in reversed-grip, and growling in rage, ready to strike the Dark Lord down. The problem was; he would soon discover that the Dark Lord was not really the Dark Lord at all. He discovered this when his adversary stood up with his back turned to him. Jak saw nothing but pointy ears and bright red-orange hair. Then the figure turned around, and he saw a fair-skinned man with bright red and yellow eyes, as well as crooked teeth. He knew immediately who this person was.

"Daxter!" Jak exclaimed as he reverted back to his normal form, "It's you! I mean, the old you! You're back!"

"Yes," Daxter growled, "I'm back to my normal self, no thanks to you!"

"Wh-What's going on?" Jak stammered.

"Ever since you turned me into a rat," Daxter began, "all you've ever done to me was push me aside, and treated me less than a sidekick! I wanted to be your best friend! Your equal! I wanted to help you, and you rejected me!"

"You know that's not true!" Jak retorted, "You know that we couldn't have succeeded on all of our adventures without you!"

"Not this time!" Daxter argued back, "This time, you've rendered me useless. I've told you to turn back from here, to give up these, 'Jedi ways' and go back to doing things that we used to do! You said you would stand by me, but you failed, just like how you failed to save our planet!"

"Dax…" Jak growled, "You take that back right now…"

"No! I refuse!" Daxter pouted, "I refuse to be beside someone who wants the glory all to himself. I refuse to bow down to someone who abuses me as a pet, but not as a friend. I refuse to be inferior to you!" He drew Vader's light saber and declared, "It's time for me to be the hero, once and for all!"

"Are you going to let him do this?" Bane inquired, "Are you going to let him finish what you started?"

"I-I can't fight him," Jak stammered once more, "No matter what he says or thinks, he'll always be like a brother to me. That's how much we've been through and I'm standing by him until the end!"

"I HATE YOU!" Daxter shouted.

"Strike him down!" Darth Bane commanded, "If you want to end your suffering, if you want to save the ones you love, you MUST gain this power, and there's only one way to do it: FINISH HIM!"

Daxter charged at Jak as Jak drew his weapon, but he was reluctant to retaliate to swing back after blocking all the strikes that Daxter tried to inflict upon him. His aggression clearly showed as he drove Jak backwards. Eventually, they crossed blades at a stalemate after Daxter drove him back to the center of the floor.

"I don't want to hurt you!" Jak pleaded.

Daxter coldly responded, "Such a shame, because I don't want you alive!" and then the former ottsel, using Vader's body, punched Jak right in the face, knocking him to the ground. Daxter yelled as he jumped toward him and swung his light saber down at him, only to have his vigorous chop blocked by Jak's weapon. He kicked Daxter in the chest as he popped back up on his feet.

His moment of stable traction was short- lived as Daxter retaliated by using The Force to push him towards the edge of the citadel. Jak's feet slid to a stop right before the edge of the tower as Daxter charged forward with vigorous and fury. He swiftly tried to counterattack by swinging his saber in all angles around Jak's body, but Jak was quick to defend himself from his attacks. They crossed their blades once more, except this time Daxter had clear control over Jak, leaning him more and more over the edge until he barely got to the breaking point of falling.

As Jak grunted to maintain what little control of his body as his feet teetered over the edge, Daxter taunted, "It's over. You're no longer going to be the hero here. You don't deserve more power because you're afraid to lose the power you already have. I am going to be the hero! I want the power! I AM NOT AFRAID!"

As soon as he said those words, the secret of the Sith hit him in the head like a runaway train. Jak thought to himself as he closed his eyes, _'Fear, that's the secret to their power. They're afraid to lose the power that they have. First fear, then anger, then hatred, for their enemies, and themselves. Eventually, they suffer. Now I know how to make them suffer, faster; to show no fear for them.' _Jak opened his eyes that became a bright white light and shouted out loud, "I AM NOT AFRAID!"

With that, Jak found hope in darkness once he changed into his light form, striking fear in the illusion in front of him. He broke off the stalemate and charged at Daxter, swinging his weapon at different directions with various combinations attacks. Once Daxter was driven back to the center of the floor, Jak knocked him down onto the ground and pointed his light saber at his face.

Instead of going for the kill, Jak withdrew his weapon, and used his light eco energy to drive his hand through Daxter's chest cavity. At first, he let out a gut-wrenching scream of pain and agony, and his eyes sprung out of his head, but the screaming of his voice subsided as Jak was absorbing the dark energy that came from him. While that occurred, he materialized back into his ottsel form. The screaming voice that was once his transformed into Darth Bane's once all of the dark energy became eradicated from Daxter's unconscious body.

Bane continued to scream as Jak began to levitate himself off the ground, absorbing any dark energy around him and converting it to light eco energy. When the time came, and all the darkness surrounding him whisked away, he unleashed a massive ring of light that completely destroyed the setting around him, turning it into nothing but a white canvas.

Jak and Daxter were both ejected from the marble casket that exploded into oblivion when they landed on the ground. The Holocron became nothing but shards of broken glass and gold pieces. The scenery became dark and desolate, with very little light in the area.

Jak transformed back to normal and stood himself up. He rubbed his forehead and his eyes until he regained full balance and vision. He then saw Daxter, his ottsel companion, lying face down on the dirt. He scampered to him, knelt down, and held his companion, cupping his hands on his posterior head and back, as Daxter coughed and flickered his eyes, waking him up.

"Dax?" Jak asked,

"J-Jak?" Daxter grunted once more as he looked at him dazed and confused, "W-What happened? I-I don't feel to good." The dizziness and nausea clearly impaired his ability to speak coherently.

Jak consoled, "It's okay buddy. You're all right."

"I don't remember anything that happened." Daxter continued, "I haven't been on a trip like that since college!"

Jak chuckled, "It's probably for the best that you don't remember." Then he felt the ground rumble beneath him, and looked over to the broken sarcophagus. He figured out quickly that although his body, mind, and soul were shattered, his rage remained furiously intact. "We're leaving!" Jak declared as he tucked Daxter in his holster. He drew his light saber and used it to search for a way out. He discovered a network of tunnels around the coffin that appeared to lead toward an exit from the tomb.

Jak took out his jet-board and yelled; "Hang on, Dax!" as the coffin erupted with a massive wave of roaring-orange flames. He zoomed to take one of the tunnels, which started off with overhead pillars collapsing above his head, leaving him to maneuver around and dodge debris and rubble, sometimes knocking it away with his light saber. That hindered the speed of the jet-board as the flames were drawing closer to the rear boosters. Once the flames made contact with the rear boosters, the jet-board accelerated beyond its limit and leapt from the edge of the tunnel down toward the area with the pillars that Jak manipulated earlier.

This time, the pillars floated on top of a rising pool of lava, and Jak had to hop on top of each individual pillar to keep the jet-board as cool as possible. The jet-board did have its heat shield activated, but it was rendered useless since the convection from the lava overheated its small engines. The last pillar was used as a ramp as the lava rose, so Jak deployed the wind sail, gaining more acceleration as he used it to jump over the crevasse of lava and land on the dirt ledge.

With the flames and lava still chasing after him, Jak then encountered several massive "thorns" of stone that were falling in front of him. He kept veering left, right, under, and over them to stay the course. Eventually, he reached the gate, and slid to a stop once he saw that it was still closed. He looked behind him and noticed that the roaring flames were far, but still aggressively charging at him. He stared at the gate, held his hands out, and used The Force to levitate the gate off the ground. He strained with immense concentration and strength as the heavy marble gate slowly cracked a beam of light. The higher he lifted his arms, the bigger the light of the Korriban dawn grew.

He raised it high enough to where he could see Master Windu's body lying on the ground, and he heard the flames grow nearer and nearer. At the last instant, without even looking, Jak dropped his hands and hit the accelerator on the jet-board. The flames then gave the jet-board three times the acceleration, which jettisoned him at a rapid flying speed that darted him directly at Master Windu. He sped fast enough to fly under the gate and grab Master Windu while the gate kept the lava locked inside the tomb as it slammed onto the ground.

Once he grabbed the unconscious Jedi Master, he skid on one of the mountains and flew hundreds of feet in the air, soaring over The Valley of The Dark Lords. He lost contact with the jet-board as it careened into the sand, destroyed. This left him, Master Windu, and Daxter falling from the rise of the Korriban sun. Eventually, all three of them bounced and landed on the soft sand right by the landed Renegade, safe and sound.


	35. Chapter 35: Atonement

Chapter 35: Atonement

Before Jak , Daxter, and Master Windu were able to return back to the ship at dawn, The Renegade sat in a deep, cool, desert night, with everyone else still on board, resting. Ahsoka sat in the cockpit, leaning on the control panel with her hand rubbing her forehead, looking out into the night sky with dreary eyes. Ratchet and Clank soon approached behind her to talk to her.

"You look tired." Ratchet observed.

Ahsoka turned around, "No, just worried."

"About?" Ratchet inquired.

"Everyone and everything." Ahsoka replied,

Ratchet went to sit down in the seat next to her and chuckled, "I'm sure Jak and Daxter are doing just fine. They've gotten themselves into sticky situations like this before. I've known them long enough to have confidence in them."

"They don't know the power of the Dark Side," Ahsoka rejected, "or what it can do. They've never faced something like this." She looked to the stars out of loneliness.

"And you have?" Ratchet asked again.

"After serving the Jedi Order under the Republic, corruption from The Force surrounded me," Ahsoka replied, "It told me that something was afoot in our system, and that was proven when most, if not all of the Jedi, will die." She sighed, "I just hope my master survived the onslaught, and that The Force is guiding him well."

Ratchet replied, "Master Windu is with them. He's fine." Ahsoka looked at him, which caused him to gasp, "Oh, that's right, Anakin." He continued, "But, I thought he was dead?"

"Don't say that!" Ahsoka shouted, "Like I said, corruption from The Force surrounds me. Something with Jak's vision just didn't add up right. He's out there somewhere. He survived the onslaught somehow. I just hope that The Force guides him well, so that he can face this 'Vader' and destroy him once and for all."

"For now, that's our job," Ratchet declared, "He took something from all of us."

Dodging the subject, Ahsoka asked, "How's Keira doing?"

"She's recovering quite well!" Clank answered, "She just needs rest. She's slowly gaining her strength back."

"Good," Ahsoka accepted, "I just hope that she doesn't wake up while we're still here…"

Meanwhile, Keira lay fast asleep in her room under the covers, with her eyes closed and her head pointed toward the ceiling. From the outside, it seemed as if she was resting a quiet slumber. Her vitals have vastly improved since her illness occurred as Clank diagnosed, but inside her mind she was about to have a revealing nightmare that was doomed to make her feel worse in her mind.

Keira opened her eyes, and looked up into a night sky, lying in some grass. She bent upward and rubbed her eyes before she looked down at her bare feet floating inside a small pond. She looked up and around and realized she was in the lush green environment in Haven Forest.

"Not this again…"She grumbled as she looked into her reflection in the water, dawned in her normal attire. Then suddenly, she heard indistinct arguing from around her. This prompted her to stand up, put on her ruby red boots, and to explore the area to find them. Being a Green Eco Sage like she thought she was, she figured it was the plants talking to her harshly. As she approached to the site where her father past meditated before as she remembered, she discovered that she was wrong. She instead saw apparitions of her parents in their younger years, and heard them arguing back and forth;

"How could you be so childish!?" The younger Samos yelled.

"I'm the one that's childish!?" younger Eva retorted, "You can't even get past the rank of 'Padawan!'"

"All because of your training," Samos grumbled.

"Besides," Eva continued, "You wanted this just as much as I did!"

"Yeah, but not now!" Samos complained.

"If not now, when!?" Eva asked.

"I don't know," Samos pouted, "but what I do know is that we'll BOTH be expelled from the Jedi Order!"

"That doesn't matter anymore!" Eva retorted, "At least we'll live!"

"You don't know that!" Samos shouted, then grumbled, "I sense a plot to destroy the Jedi. Darkness surrounds that senator from Naboo."

"Okay now you're just being paranoid…again." Eva observed, "No wonder you haven't been knighted yet."

"Don't you get it?" Samos pleaded, "He's been after us ever since I arrived. He has a plan to exterminate all the Jedi in The Galaxy! He'll use us as his first case for his ascension for power. He'll order the rest of The Senate to execute us!"

"I can't listen to anymore of this," Eva yelled at him as she stormed off, "and I can't even look at you right now! You came here for selfish reasons: You came here to use our power to obsessively look for The Precursors. I came here willingly to serve The Republic!" Just like that, they vanished.

Keira started to whimper, and tears started to roll down her face. She became overwhelmed with emotions, as she knew what her parents were arguing about in the past that she never knew. She wanted to step in and talk reason with them, but knowing that they wouldn't ever notice her, it would not have mattered at all. For the first time in her life, a life filled with solving all the problems and being active in the most difficult situations, she felt helpless.

"It's hard being blamed for everything, isn't it?" A shrill voice shivered behind Keira, prompting her to turn around and draw her light saber. She pointed at a figure that appeared to be a cloaked Asajj Ventress, who removed her hood to expose herself to the light.

"What kind of dark magic is this?" Keira growled at her, "I thought you were dead!"

"Your first kill always sticks with you, my dear." Ventress cooed as she walked around Keira, "I'm implanted in your memories forever, inviting me into whatever dream I please to be in."

"So, you're controlling this dream, not Palpatine?" Keira asked.

"No, Darth Sidious still is," Ventress replied, "I'm just in it as his special guest. You see this, Palpatine that you speak of, caused all of this for your 'family' long before he became Chancellor of The Republic. This was the start of his plan, as your father mentioned. Your birth was the catalyst for the fall of the Jedi Order."

"You liar!" Keira shouted as she swung her blade towards the Dark Jedi. Ventress was able to dodge her first strike and block all of her others when she drew out her red sabers.

When Keira was able to drive her towards the edge of the cliff, as her heels were hanging directly above the lake, Ventress offered, "If you don't believe me, you'll just have to see for yourself." She turned around and finished, "Oh, and watch for the metal-heads."

With that, thousands of metal-heads from a few different species teemed all over the forest. Ventress was the first to dive down into the lake and began attacking them. Keira followed and decided to work with her through this ambush. The grunts pounced, the stingers jumped, the snipers shot, the roto-blades spun, the wasps and flyers bombed, and the centurions charged. Nevertheless, Keira and Asajj Ventress worked together to forge ahead. They blocked oncoming shots to other metal-heads, use The Force to drop crushing rocks upon them, and of course, sliced and diced to kill them.

At one point, they were surrounded and encircled by the metal-head swarm. Keira saw that Ventress held both of her blades outward, giving her a whimsical tactic: She sparked Ventress with a touch of blue eco, and used The Force to shove her so that she would spin through the metal-head onslaught like a top. This would clear the pathway towards the cave that led to The Mountain Temple, as few of the surviving metal-heads chased after the Dark Jedi.

This meant that Keira had to fend off a few metal-heads of her own; starting with a few centurions that fired at her, Keira was able to harness red eco energy to break their shields and impale them. She then transformed that energy into yellow eco energy she would throw from her hands that would obliterate up to ten metal-heads at once. Finally, to exterminate the remaining creatures, Keira used The Force to stop the blasts from the metal-heads that fired at her, and swiftly backfired them towards each other, one by one, until they were all dead.

After staring at her fingers as she marveled at her immensely growing power with eco, Keira noticed behind her that Ventress was making way towards the cave, getting ready to leap on a Precursor platform. She used her sudden burst of blue eco energy to sprint past the remaining metal-heads and to leap towards the platform as it was floating through the cave. She barely clinged herself onto the edge of the platform, barely hanging on by the fingers of her left hand. The rest of her body was dangling below a bottomless dark chasm, and her weapon was still drawn.

Ventress bent over, withdrew her weapons and lent a hand, "This is the second time you helped me, but it doesn't have to be the second time you stab me in the back. We work well together, and there is no reason for you to quarrel with me anymore. Your fight is not with me, but with your fear, anger, and hatred. Let go. Let go of your struggles, and I will help you in return."

Keira felt uneasy when she said all of this, but suddenly, her hand slipped from the platform and she started to fall. However, Ventress, used The Force to levitate her body from mid air and to gravitate her feet toward the top of the platform with her.

When she stood up, the platform exited the cave and floated towards the bright scenery of the massive Mountain Temple, just like she remembered from Haven City. This immense Precursor Temple was illuminated with bright lights that fluorescently shined on the mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and small plateaus of grass.

Keira commented, "I would never expect a Sith to make a peace offering with a Jedi, let alone the Jedi that just killed you."

Ventress chuckled, "You forget, my dear; I am no Sith, and you are not a Jedi yet. You still have a little bit left to go."

As the platform landed at a patch of grass at the base of the temple, Keira hopped off, as Ventress remained standing on it. Keira offered, "Thanks for saving my skin."

Ventress replied, "You will be rewarded for your atonement one day. But for now, this is where I leave you. Ascend the temple until you reach the Precursor Statue that lies at its summit. All you have to do then is touch the crystal that it holds, and it will take you towards the secret of The Empire. May The Force be with you." She finished as the platform floated away into the night sky, leaving Keira with no choice but to forge ahead.

Keira started at the grassy base of the temple with her weapon drawn, and would soon encounter a metal-head rhino as she would fall into the first of three pits. It was a massive beast that stood on its two legs and roared at her, frightening her. The beast landed on all fours and charged at her, so she moved out of the way towards the corner of the pit, knowing that there would be no chance of striking it down with her light saber. She positioned herself towards the entrance where the rhino came from, and it charged at her again. This time, she timed her jump to leap over the rhino as it ran back into its cave. She landed on the edge of the cliff and looked down. Giving her an idea:

'_Maybe,'_ She thought to herself, _'I could drive the rhino off the cliff so that it can fall! I just gotta stand on the very edge and jump when I need to.'_ With that whimsical thought, she felt the ground rumble, heard the bellowing roar, and saw the bright metal head skull gem beam from the cave, as it ran toward her. Keira closed her eyes, breathed calmly, and leapt over the rhino as it fell deep into a bottomless chasm. Two platforms appeared as she opened her eyes and looked to the left, and she hopped on each of them to get out of the pit.

She would repeat the same plan two more times until she ascended to the second level of the temple, where she ran through a Precursor corridor with a door at the end of it. Just before the door opened, she heard a voice, prompting her to turn around;

"Samos, we're having a baby." Then, she turned around once more, and saw a faded image of her younger father kneeling down to a smaller, shorter, and greener Jedi, knighting him with his small green light saber.

The green Jedi declared, "By the right of the council, and by the will of The Force, Samos Hagai, I dub thee, Jedi; Knight of the Republic." The image faded, and the door opened.

Once Keira walked through the doorway, all she saw in a massive room was a series of platforms that floated vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. Not only that, but these platforms also flipped upside down at certain times. There were thousands of them, and they all ascended toward yet another Precursor door hundreds of feet upward.

She looked up timidly and said to herself, "This is probably something Jak would be good at." But then she stared at the first platform as it floated from side to side, and with determined eyes, she leapt onto the first platform, charged with blue eco energy, and leapt from one platform to another. She was quick to hop from platform to platform right before they would flip upside-down, but was also systematic enough to create her own path and to time the jumps perfectly. Not once was she caught on a platform long enough to where it flipped upside down on her, and eventually, her fortitude for this challenge reached her to the top.

Once she hopped on the ledge that led to the second Precursor door, Keira exhaled, "Wow, I can't believe I did all of that!" and then, the door opened in front of her. She withdrew her light saber, clipped it on her waist, and slowly paced down a dark corridor that was illuminated by blue patterns that were similar to the hilt on Jak's light saber.

All of the sudden she heard, "Freeze, Jedi!" and then ducked when she saw blast bolts firing behind her. When she stood up, she saw her father flailing a green light saber around blocking the bullets that were shot from police droids that chased after him.

"FATHER!" She called out as she ran after them. She tried to keep up with the chase, but the further she ran, the further away they inched from her. Eventually, she saw this light at the end of the tunnel and ran through it. Once she did, she fell, and landed in a dark room. Once she stood up, she saw candlelights, illuminating the eerie quarters, and a shrouded bed. Younger Samos kneeled at Younger Eva's side, holding a small child, crying, and shrouded by a white blanket.

"That's me…." Keira shuddered and shed a tear.

After that, Eva Larude handed the child over to Samos, grazed her hand over his cheek gasped her dying breath:"Samos, take her. Her name…is Keira. Protect her. Keep her safe. She's your daughter now. You're her guardian. You don't have to be a Sage or a Jedi to grant her protection, you just have to care for her, and love her. You're the only thing she's got now. Don't lose her. Don't let her go, but let her blossom into the woman she wants to be when the time comes. Love Keira, like you loved me." With that, Samos grabbed her hand and started to sob as Eva closed her eyes, exhaled one last time, and expired.

As Keira placed her hand over her mouth and started to sob, young Samos held her hand and declared, "I will, my love. I promise you. I won't let The Republic take her from me!" He then kissed her head and bid her farewell.

"It's over, Padawan Hagai." Palpatine suddenly appeared behind him with two other police droids. Palpatine and took the child as the droids cuffed him, and began to escort them out of the room.

"NO!" Keira shouted in anger, drew her light saber, and used it to attempt to kill the corrupted senator. The problem was, the blade actually went through his neck transparently, never making full contact with his skin. This caused her to fall forward as her blade retracted, and she found herself landed inside a clear water moat.

Once she stood herself up and used the water to rub her eyes, she discovered that she reached the summit of the Precursor Mountain Temple. She walked across the patch of grass, and up the Precursor altar to see the statue that Ventress referred to. The statue was holding a small light eco crystal with two hands.


End file.
